Blinded by Lies
by velori
Summary: Two enemies thrown together in what could most likely result in thier doom. Conflicting emotions and loyalties run high as disturbing truths are revealed as the consequences of thier actions become clearer. Set soon after the events at the North Pole.ZxK
1. Prologue

**Blinded by Lies**

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last airbender, or any of its characters..

Prologue

Fire. It is all consuming. It is invincible. Nothing can stop it.

'_Nothing can stop **me**.' _She played with it for a moment, watching a single flame dart across in sharp, jabbing movements over her hand.

Only the most powerful should be able to use it, only the _best_.

She extinguished the small fire, clenching her hand into a fist, watching the smoke rise up into the air through hooded eyes.

'_Iroh is a traitor.'_ The old fool, he would receive no mercy.

'_Your brother is a failure' _A pathetic excuse for a Firebender. She would enjoy breaking him, take pleasure in his pain.

'_I have a task for you.'_

One that she had no intention of failing.


	2. Watch your back

**A/N: So this is the first chapter, hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last airbender and I never will.**

Chapter one: Watch Your Back

_How did she manage to get here? _

_She was walking, but could not see a thing. Thick tendrils of fog were coiling around her ankles; disturbed for a moment each time her feet touched the mossy ground underneath the dense vapor as she took another step forward. It was hard, not being able to see, and she swiped at the air in front of her eyes, as if she could just brush away the fog like she would a curtain._

_Fog…mist…was that not just evaporated water?_

_Then why couldn't she just move it aside? She tried bending it out of her way, but when she did, nothing happened._

She looked at her hand, confused.

_Where was she?_

_The girl looked up; maybe the stars would reveal some sort of clue. _

_It was night, but there **were no**_** _stars_**

_There was fog down here, and no clouds up there, but there was not a single star in the sky. This was not natural… _

The waterbender grumbled, frustration causing her to kick the ground and watch as the fog dissipated and came back again in swirling patterns. More like air…no, more like smoke than water.

She whirled around when she heard something crack, not a few metres from where she was standing by the sound of it. She froze as she heard a groan, staring blindly at whatever was in front of me.

The girl bit her lip as she heard sobs, and wondered what she should do.

She couldn't bear the sound after a while…it sounded so sad…

Taking a few steps forward, she pushed at the fog and followed the sound. She came to a clearing, where the fog suddenly just…stopped. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a wall, which just ended, or began.

The crying was louder now, and she looked around. Who was crying? Where was she? Why was this happening?

Suddenly she felt very alone, and very vulnerable…

**But you're not alone are you Katara?** An unbidden voice came into her head, interrupting her thoughts.

'No. I'm not.'

**Watch your back…**

She approached the source of the sobs, and found a small figure hunched over, kneeling on the ground.

She reached out with her hand to touch a shoulder. Only to feel it crumble into nothing but ash staining her fingertips grey…

"Katara…"

"Katara!" My eyes flickered open, and I blinked stupidly as I heard someone call my name. I rubbed them with my palm, blinked again, and glanced up. I saw my brother's face come into focus, his own eyes filled with concern as he held my shoulders.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" I thought about his question for a moment, lingering on the dream.

'That was weird' I turned my head around, and noticed that I was back on Appa's saddle. 'That was **very **weird.'

Slowly, I nodded my head and he let go, sitting back onto his knees and gave me an troubled look, as if I was about to fall unconscious or something.

"What?"

"You were twitching and groaning in your sleep…are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Sokka. Where are we?" I changed the subject, hoping he would move on instead of asking me about…whatever it was.

"We just passed over the last of the Inshii mountains, so now we've got what, seventeen miles before we reach the Earth Kingdom coastline?" He looked over at Aang, who had taken control of Appa's reins.

"Yeah, something like that. Hey, guys, what's the next port on the map?" I rummaged through our supplies, or what was left of them, and found the map. I took it in my hands while Sokka came and looked over my shoulder.

"So, we're here…that would mean…" I traced my finger along the inked in illustration of the shoreline, stopping at a small dot. "There's a small town called Sheino, Aang, if we follow the beach a for a couple of miles."

"Okay, we can rest near the sea and go there in the morning then." I shrugged. We needed to restock our supplies anyway.

After some more flying, we came to the shore after following a long river. The sun was sinking behind us when the river widened, sharply dividing two steep cliffs on either side. We could also see the town…I was shocked, as clusters of small dwellings were clinging precipitously to the crags.

"Hey, do you see that?" Sokka whistled in disbelief, "How can they live like that?"

I shook my head in reply to the question, before tearing my gaze away, feeling slightly dizzy. It didn't help when I felt my stomach lurch slightly as Appa veered away and descended, before landing near a copse that formed near the banks of the river, about a kilometre away from both the river and the cliff. We set up a small camp. There wasn't a lot of firewood, but some of the grass was dry and long, and with some of the remaining wood from our small supply store, and some kindling, we managed to get a small fire going.

I unrolled my sleeping bag next to Sokka, who was doing the same thing, but wasn't quite ready to sleep yet, I still felt…uneasy.

I sat on it instead, and asked Aang to pass over the bag, which we kept important belongings in, like the waterbending scroll. Taking it out, I told the others that I was going to do some practice. Aang stood grinned and asked if he could come with me. I was a little put off, as I had hoped to go alone, but nodded anyway. We left together, heading towards the very edge of the riverbank. It took a while, and when we got there, it was a bit muddy, and so it was slippery, but that was not enough to deter me. The stars had come out, and I smiled at the familiar constellations I could spot. But even better, a full moon was out, which would make practice easier.

Taking a deep breath, I started with a few simple exercises while Aang rested his staff on the ground before coming over to join me. I motioned with my hands, pushing and pulling the water, making waves come towards me even as the river current was becoming more of a tide as it was widening as a mouth, opening out towards the sea. Once I had settled into a rhythm and had begun to feel more relaxed, I streamed some of the water with a flick of my left wrist and played with it a little, forming it into a snake to twist and move through the air around my hands. Aang watched me for a little bit, a small smile lighting up his face, and began to copy me.

I then put my feet apart and created a water whip, shifting my bodyweight through the stances. I tried some sequences using waves and whips, while Aang played around some more, just enjoying himself. I was glad that he was having fun, times were any of us could were coming less and less, becoming more and more precious.

Turning away and thinking for a moment, I tried moving on to more advanced moves, ones that were supposed to test and improve my reaction time. I created a large wave and froze it, before releasing it and freezing it just before it crashed back into the sea. I tried it again, faster, until I managed to freeze it four times in a row. I smiled inwardly, knowing how much I had improved since leaving the South Pole.

Aang had stopped playing and was watching me again, a strange look on his face.

"You okay there?" I stopped and grinned.

"Yeah, why don't you have a go? I'll sit and watch for a while." I sat and watched as he imitated what I had just done, combining it a little with some airbending. There was a time where I would have been jealous of Aang, because of his natural talent. But not anymore, now I was just glad that he could make such progress, especially considering the fact that he was the Avatar.

I probably would have collapsed with all the stress that came from bearing such a burden, but he seemed to manage it well enough to even find opportunities to laugh and have fun. More than once had he cheered me up with his sunny nature, and I often tried to do the same. But there were times for fun, and then there were other times. You just had to stick through it and hope for the best.

Times like now. I suddenly realised with sickening dread as I saw smoke on the horizon. It must have been much later than I had thought, because the sun was beginning to rise. Coupled with the smoke, there was only one thing that that could mean.

'Firebenders…'

"Aang…"

"I know Katara, we should get out of here." I nodded in agreement as he picked up his staff.

We started to turn back, but it only took a few steps before I noticed just how quiet it was…too quiet.

I felt my heart begin to race, my senses instantly becoming more alert. My breath caught in my throat when I heard a twig snap behind me, but when I whipped around there was…

Three words where in my head

'Watch Your Back'

I leapt aside as a fireball scorched the ground just by my feet.

**A/N: Hope you liked the first chapter, reviews are always welcome!**

**See you next chapter,**

**velori **


	3. Last Person

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far, appreciated much!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last airbender sigh **

Chapter 2: Last Person

I stared at the scorched earth for a moment, rooted to the spot.

"KATARA!" My head snapped up and I saw Aang fighting off flames as they were sent towards him. Forming a shield of water, I blocked one, falling back as steam erupted in front of me.

I yelled as more fireballs were sent our way; leading trails of hot, thick smoke. They hit the ground and the smoke rose up, covering the both of us in a thick blanket.

I coughed and my eyes began to water as it surrounded us, the heat scorching and irritating my skin. I clutched at my throat and my head swam as I held my breath, trying not to let it enter my lungs and suffocate the life out of me.

"A…AANG! WHE…WHERE ARE YOU?" I half screamed, half choked.

I ducked and lowered myself to the ground, starting to crawl forward, pulling myself along with my forearms while I felt the ground scrape my stomach.

I heard shouts and looked up, my eyes stinging from grains of dirt and smoke that had embedded into their corners and under my eyelids.

A hand roughly grabbed my collar, hoisting me up from the ground. I screamed and lashed out, my foot connecting with something - hard. The hand let go and I heard a grunt. I picked myself up and _ran._

I surged forward blindly, aware of the fact that I wasn't sure where I was going, hell, I couldn't even see! All I knew was that I had to find Aang, and get out of here _now._

My feet pounded against the mud, my chest tight, feeling as though there was a strange pressure on my lungs as I fought myself, my body screaming at me to stop and breathe but my mind telling me to keep going, keep trying. My head spun as I tripped, gasped and accidentally breathed in the foul smoke. I felt myself fall and I slid in the mud, but got up again, fear pumping through my veins and lending me strength that I had no idea that I had possessed.

I cleared the smoke, and collapsed on to my knees, coughing and spluttering. I took one shuddering deep breath; god, to be able to breathe had _never _felt so good. Trembling, I dared to look behind me.

"Katara! Don't stop! Run!" I leapt up, adrenaline pumping through my body once more as I heard my friend's shout. I stumbled, but then shot off again while arrows hit the ground behind me, right where I had been seconds before.

I felt rather than saw a shadow pass over me, I looked up and saw Aang's glider.

"JUMP!" He dipped his glider a little and I jumped, almost immediately losing my footing as he seized my wrist.

The glider crashed against the floor but he picked it up and, pulling me along slightly, we ran back in the direction towards the wood.

But they weren't going to allow us to get away that easily.

More arrows struck the ground in front of us, forcing us back and causing us to change direction.

Aang thew his glider into the air and I grabbed the tail as he launched into the air.

But the sudden change in weight caused a bad take-off, and the glider swerved dangerously low to the ground. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes, preparing myself for the impact – but it never came.

Next thing I knew, the glider was picking up air, shooting upwards.

"HOLD ON!" The firebenders had seen what we were doing and were now sending attack after attack in our direction

"AANG! TO YOUR LEFT!" He swerved off to the direction I yelled as we narrowly avoided another barrage of fireballs that had been sent at us in the hope of bringing us tumbling down again.

Aang turned his glider and piloted it into a steep dive to avoid a hail of arrows, and I almost let go.

We flew low to the ground, before turning to fly alongside the river, my feet skimming across the water. Another bombardment of arrows and I kicked up with my legs violently, causing the glider to dip again but creating a wall of ice, which the arrows thudded harmlessly into. The glider climbed again, lifting us up again.

As we climbed higher and higher, I looked around, frantically searching for something, _anything_ that could help us…THERE! I caught the sight of trees in the distance. Not the wood where Sokka and Appa were, but close enough and large enough to perhaps find somewhere to hide.

"FLY TOWARDS THE TREES!" He veered sharply to the side, and for one heart-stopping moment, one of my hands lost its hold and I was dangling for dear life, while my other fingers began to slip. I made a grab for the tail again, my heart pounding in my ears and the air whipping past me, causing my hair to smack my face and fall out of its braid.

I saw more arrows and fireballs come, from two directions and moaned in distress as I saw soldiers – in front of us now as well as behind. Either way, we were going to be hit.

The glider dove again, even as arrows pierced the material, ripping holes through the thin membrane.

We reached the trees, but I realized that if he dived, we would be hit again, and sent tumbling to our deaths.

But with my extra weight and the holes in the glider, we wouldn't fly fast enough to escape.

No…_WE _wouldn't.

But Aang would.

"AANG, I'M TOO HEAVY, I'LL HAVE TO LET GO!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!"

"I HAVE TO!"

"NO!"

I felt his desperation match my own, even as the glider began to sink. I made up my mind, and released my grip.

I let go.

He tried to come after me but was blocked by more fireballs.

"KATARA!"

I fell, crashing into the trees and landing on my back with a sickening crunch. Pain flashed in the back of my head, sending me into unconsciousness as darkness rushed to take over.

OoO

A dull throbbing roused me, and every time the blood pulsed through my head it brought with it a fresh wave of pain. I rolled over as it flashed through my entire body, thinking to myself that I must have broken something at least – ouch, _thinking_ _hurt_. I groaned and my head flashed, and I saw lights behind closed eyelids, causing me to groan as the pain that was coursing with each heartbeat intensified. I pulled myself up, biting my lip as a fresh wave lanced up my arm, and I collapsed back down, panting heavily.

I opened my eyes and winced as light flooded into my vision. Dry mud – or blood, I couldn't tell – on my cheek cracked as I shifted, causing me to shudder. I blinked a few times, eyesight returning gradually, albeit excruciatingly.

I tried to sit up, crying out from a mixture of agony and surprise. My cry was muffled, however, as a hand quickly covered my mouth.

"Be quiet." A harsh whisper cut through the fogginess of my mind like a knife. My body froze, obeying the voice, even as my thoughts – again, thinking hurt – protested. I regained control of my actions and struggled a little, but my body was pressed against something and when pressure was put on my back as I was pushed down, I had to stop for all the pain it caused.

"Don't. Move." The voice ordered me again, and I flinched as the grip on my arm tightened slightly. I whimpered as I heard rustling, and I dimly felt the other body near me tense suddenly.

I heard voices above my head, and I was pushed down, causing me to hiss in pain.

"We've already searched this area."

"You sure? How c'n you tell? Trees look all the same t' me."

"Just come on."

I heard heavy footsteps pass and I had to bite back a scream as my arm was moved, tears springing forward, one escaping to run down from my eyes over my cheek. The footsteps grew faint and the voices disappeared. I let out a breath that I hadn't known I was holding and I felt my unseen 'rescuer' relax slightly behind me.

I took the opportunity to look around me, and I saw what I was being pushed against. A tree had fallen, forming a barrier that served to conceal us by forming a small hollow under it, one that I was curled up in, my front against a wall of earth and roots.

My senses were rapidly returning, and the pain in my head was slowly beginning to recede. However, it wasn't my head that was worrying me now, because I noticed with a wave of nausea that I couldn't move my arm, and every time I tried, a horrible pain washed over me. I could tell without looking that was very much, broken. My muscles were trembling, and I was exhausted. Never had I regretted staying up all night so much in my life.

I wondered where Aang was, prayed to Sedna that he was okay. Prayed that he had escaped, found Sokka, and had left this place far behind.

"Mm…mmmf mflt mubn me!" I tried to speak, but the hold on my mouth didn't loosen and the hand wasn't removed from my mouth.

I narrowed my eyes and bit down on the flesh, causing the hand to immediately withdraw.

"You little peasant! Do you want me to gag you? Because I will!" My eyes widened in shock. I recognized that voice.

"YOU!" the hand covered my mouth again and I tried to bite again.

"Don't you dare or I'll burn your ungrateful little mouth off!" His voice was low, but filled with anger and underlying threat. I felt his palm heat up dangerously in time to his words, as if to demonstrate his point, causing me to shift as it hurt my already bruised skin.

I looked over my shoulder and threw him the most hostile glare I could muster.

He glared back at me with just as much loathing, his lip curling slightly in disgust.

I was stuck, in the middle of nowhere, with the last person I _ever _wanted to see.

**A/N: Hoped you enjoyed reading that, I've put quite a bit of research into it. Apparently, Sedna, is the Inuit goddess of the ocean, so I thought that would be a nice touch to the story.**

**Once again, please review, review, review!**

**Till next chapter, **

**velori.**


	4. We're even now

A/N: SPOILER ALERT! (I think), correct me if I'm wrong about any of the stuff in this chapter, I haven't managed to see the last few episodes of the season so a lot of the stuff I've written has been from patchily gathered info, though I'm trying my best to be accurate! Don't hurt me please…

Disclaimer: Oh, the usual, I don't own Avatar: the last airbender, it belongs to Nickelodeon, blah, blah, blah

Chapter 3: We're Even, for now…

Great. This was just fantastic.

He just _had_ to leave the boat didn't he? He just _had _to go and mess things up.

The young prince wished he had just left the girl, left her to die. Then the soldiers wouldn't have been able to use her if they found her and it would have been one thing less for him to worry about. Damned was he if he was going stay a minute longer with the little water tribe witch.

But he didn't have a choice.

He couldn't have just left her there, it went against all of his common sense but he just couldn't. It just wouldn't have been _right._

'_Oh, and you really know what the right thing to do is.'_

He grumbled in reply to the annoying little voice in his head, he did not need this.

'_She wouldn't thank you anyway, and why should she?'_

"I don't need_ her_ thanks or her opinion. It doesn't matter to me, so why should I care?" He said quietly to himself, driving the voice back.

Zuko couldn't _stand _her, and now he had the mark on his hand to prove it. Not that it hurt, he would never allow himself to admit that, but she had bitten down _really_ hard. It had taken a lot of self-control not to carry out his threat and burn her right there and then.

He really did not like her.

"Stupid girl."

Great. Now he was talking to himself.

He had left her in the hollow, with the warning that if she moved, not only would she just further hurt herself, but he would also hunt her down and drag her back. He had gotten some small satisfaction from the outraged glare that had been thrown at him when he mentioned that he wouldn't be gentle, either. Besides, in the state she was in, she wouldn't have gotten very far - she had a broken arm and a twisted ankle. No, she wouldn't be going anywhere.

Unless she could heal herself…he knew she had healing powers, but he did not know how powerful she was in that kind of bending, and was unsure as to whether or not she could heal bones. He did not trust her though, that much was certain, and he had taken the liberty of removing her water-skin, which he had with him now.

"Stupid girl." Zuko repeated, and then scoffed slightly. Typical. How weak was waterbending if they were forced to rely on nearby sources of water all the time? It was nothing compared to firebending. However, he had seen how strong that waterbending wench had become in the time she had been with the Avatar. No, it would not do to underestimate her. But she had better not underestimate him either – she was still just a little water peasant. She would not underestimate him if she knew what was good for her, or he would show her just how powerful firebending could be.

He would learn from his mistakes.

Unlike Zhao. Zhao had been an idiot, and had paid the price for his stupidity. He flinched slightly at the memory. That man had chosen death even when he had tried to help; had chosen to be taken by the ocean rather than be saved by the likes of him. Zuko looked down at the floor and kicked a stone in anger, watching as it embedded itself into a nearby tree stump.

Zuko weaved around the trees more carefully after that, making sure that his footsteps was light, avoiding twigs and leaving as little trace as possible. At least he had made one good decision when he had left his armour with Uncle Iroh, as the heavy metal would have only gotten in the way.

He reckoned that the soldiers had left the area a while a go, but he decided to use this chance to make sure. He wasn't that far from where he left her, and he guessed that he would be able to make it back within five minutes or so, and he would be able to hear her if she screamed for help or something. He stopped to listen for a moment, before looking upwards, trying to see if he could judge the time of day.

Rays of sunlight streamed between gaps in the canopy of branches and leaves above, creating contrasts of light and shadow, casting mottled shades of green and grey. From the way his own shadow was stretched out from his feet, he decided it was probably around mid-afternoon, maybe later. More leaves were beginning to grow on the tree branches as the months of winter had drawn to a close, and it was becoming warmer, signalling the arrival of spring. That brought both good news and bad news, Zuko pondered, thinking over the possibilities. As the temperature rose, it would mean that travelling by boat would become harder, as melt water from the mountains would flood down, joining into the rivers, causing the water levels to rise and currents to become faster. But it would also mean that more places would become more accessible, if said boat was strong enough to cope with the more frequent surges of water and fast currents.

While thinking on the subject, he reminded himself that he should be getting back to his uncle. He had been gone longer in the past, but leaving the old general by himself for any period of time was never the best of ideas. But there was also the fact that it would take time to go back, and it would take a few hours at least, meaning that it would be dark by the time he returned.

And then there was the girl. What was he going to do with her? It would have been easier if he had his crew and ship back, but that wasn't going to happen. He thought about just leaving her, now that she was awake, or he could take her back with him. However, it had been hard enough reaching here, as he had had to avoid the village and the Fire Nation Troops that were stationed there, using it as an outpost. Dragging her along would perhaps prove to be too much of a burden. He felt his anger flare up again as fire ignited his clenched fists and smoke emitted from the flames began to coil up around his forearms. Imagine! He, Prince of the Fire Nation, was being forced to avoid men from his own country!

That brought his thoughts right back to the Avatar. It was always about the Avatar. If he could just capture that child, he wouldn't have to hide. He wouldn't have to wake up to the shame of knowing that he was nothing but a banished prince, with his own father seeing him as a disgrace…a failure…

He accidentally lost his focus, and stepped on a brittle twig, causing it to splinter under the weight of his foot. The loud 'snap' cut through the silence of the wood and served as an abrupt wake up call, causing Zuko to jump back into reality. He remembered that the girl was alone, and was now probably doing something stupid, like trying to run away.

She was only going to cause trouble. But he might as well make the best of it; if she was here, maybe the Avatar was nearby.

Finally decided on a course of action, he turned back and headed towards the hollow.

OoO

To Zuko's surprise, she hadn't tried to escape, or if she had, she had realised the seriousness of her situation and seemed at least to have the common sense to know not to move. She was still in the hollow, resting her arm gently in her lap, taking care not to move. He jumped down from the log and landed in front of her, hearing her gasp, whether in surprise or pain or a mixture of the two, he did not know.

He searched around, feeling her apprehensive stare fixed on his back while he picked his way around until he found what he was looking for. He took the stick in his hands, testing it to see if it could be of used. When it didn't snap, he set it down on the ground beside her; he then reached for his pack, before halting. Had she tried to make off with it? Or had she searched it? He wouldn't put it past her. He turned to look at her, but shrugged off his suspicions. There would be time for those later.

Taking out a spare shirt, he ripped it into several long strips, and approached her. She narrowed her eyes warily, and cradled her arm closer to her chest, visibly wincing from the small movement, and he could easily tell that she was biting back a scream.

"Show me your arm." He demanded, picking up the stick and crouching down so that he was only a few inches away from her. She shook her head in reply and he gritted his teeth. He didn't have time for any foolish behavior from this girl. She was lucky he was even considering doing this when he could just leave it so that she would never be able to use her arm again, it would only be less trouble for him if she could not use her arms to bend. Nevertheless, being the man that he was, it was the 'right thing to do' and he wasn't nearly dishonorable enough to just leave her in pain if he could do something about it, even if it was this _particular_ girl. He had already rescued her and might as well finish what he started. Besides, this way he would be able to 'repay' them…if she brought _that_ subject up. Zuko realized that he should have done this before he had left, but he had needed to make sure that the soldiers had gone. So what if she was in pain? He didn't care; he was doing something now wasn't he?

'_But you should have done something sooner.'_ Damn conscience, always coming up when he didn't want it to. He swatted it away, as if it were like an annoying fly buzzing near his ear, burying it in the back of his mind as he turned his attention back to the task at hand.

"Show me your arm." He ordered again, his tone becoming harsher with his impatience.

"No" He stiffened in anger at her answer. He was trying to help her, couldn't she see that? Stupid water tribe peasant.

"I'm not going to ask again. Do it. Now."

"You'll hurt it more." He was severely tempted to do just that, but reined in his temper.

"No I won't. Show me it, now." Zuko saw her face twitch, before she relented, and grudgingly released her hold on the injured arm. He took out a knife, and smirked a little as he saw her eyes widen in panic, but he only proceeded to cut off her sleeve, revealing the bare, bruised flesh underneath.

He frowned as he saw the bruise, which was a deep shade of bluish-purple. She was lucky, really, that the bone hadn't punched through her skin. It wasn't at an odd angle or pulled out of the socket, so he wouldn't even have to push or pull anything back into place. But it would still take a while to heal, and it would have to be set soon, otherwise it would never heal properly. As he reached for the bandages though, he had second thoughts. Looking around, he picked up a thick wood chipping.

"Bite on this." Her angry look immediately turned to an incredulous one, before becoming apprehensive again as she switched her gaze to the wood in his hand. He rolled his eyes as she shook her head again, if she was going to be like that, fine then.

'_Stupid girl.'_

But, as he took her arm and carefully straightened it to stretch out the bone against the stick, she cried out sharply and he saw tears in the corner of her eyes. He _had_ warned her. She blinked them away fiercely, and he had to admit that, for a pathetic waterbender, she was pretty tough. With the barest hint of a smirk, he mused that he would have probably burnt her to a crisp by now if their situations were reversed. He blinked, and justified his last thoughts, immediately realizing how that had sounded in his mind. He would have burned her to a crisp not so much out of pain but probably more out of anger that she would dare touch him.

"What the hell are you so happy about?" He glared at her as she hissed at him, jostling her slightly.

"AAAH! Be careful!"

"You really should watch your tongue then." She fell silent, but was still staring at him with a look of uttermost hatred that showed clear as day all over her face. Ignoring her sharp protests, he then quickly wrapped the strips of torn shirt around her arm, and with the remaining material, he tied a makeshift sling around the back of her neck and slotted in her arm.

When he had finished, he stepped back and gave the sling a critical look. It would do for now.

"There. We're even now."

OoO

A/N: Wow, longest chapter so far.

**Reviews are welcome. Ahem.**

**Velori.**


	5. A Grim Discovery

A/N: thank you so much for the reviews so far, you people are the best!

Disclaimer: I do not own avatar: the last airbender.

Chapter 4: A Grim Discovery

"Let me go."

"No."

Prince Zuko tightened his grip on her wrist and gave her another push forwards, earning himself another venomous glare from the waterbender and causing her to renew her attempts at escape as she tried to yank away her arm. But he was not about to let go and was becoming increasingly irritated at the fact that she was just. Not. Giving. Up.

He could tell that she must be exhausted, they had left the hollow a good while ago (or, more accurately, he had been forced to drag her out, but that was besides the point) and her energy had been rapidly deteriorating. At first, he had been unsure as to whether he should be angry or amused at her futile attempts to get away. Now, though, he just wanted her to give up struggling and accept the fact that there was no way that he was just gong to let her go. Besides, what exactly did the girl think that she could possibly do in a situation like hers?

Her best – no – _only_ option was to go with him. She would not have survived the night on her own if he had not found her; he even had the consideration to help her! Not that she seemed to have realised this fact, of all the ungrateful…

He was regretting that decision now, and from the way she was so determined to go and get herself killed, she obviously did not care that much for her wellbeing.

Her determination, it earned her a kind of respect from him before, but now he was rapidly approaching his last nerve.

When he could not take it anymore and whirled around to face her.

"You could at least be a little more grateful to me, considering that I did take the time to save you. Or perhaps you would have preferred it if I had left you to die?" She froze, and shot him such a vicious look that he was sure that, if looks could kill, he would be nothing more than a smouldering pile of ash right now.

However, he caught her off guard with that question, and he almost dared hope that she would finally know what was good for her. She lashed out with her foot and it almost hit his shin. Fine. If she was going to be like that…

"Perhaps I should just tie you to a tree and leave you. I'm sure that if the Fire Nation soldiers are still in the area, they'll find you…eventually." He smirked as panic flashed across her face, before she glared at him again.

"Why don't you then? I'll only be a liability to your _Highness_ I'm sure." The emphasis on the word 'highness' almost pushed him over the edge. He growled in frustration, did she really have a death wish?

"You really should show more respect, girl." His voice was a whisper, low and dangerous.

"I'm giving you as much as you deserve."

"Listen, peasant. I could have left you-"

"Then why didn't you?" He did not answer immediately, but before he could, she added "And my name is not _girl, _or _peasant _or whatever other label you come up with_."_

"I couldn't care less what your name is!" He all but shouted at her, his anger getting the better of him. He pushed her forward again, glowering at her as she stumbled slightly at the unexpected movement.

For a moment, it did cross his mind that he did not know her name. He blinked at this realisation, what was it? Kat-something. Kat-ara? Katara, yes, that was it, he was sure it was.

Oh great, now he _was_ thinking about it.

He ground his teeth, and marched on, passing her so that he was now pulling her along, instead of walking behind her.

OoO

I was angry.

I was worried.

I was tired.

I was…confused.

Why had he helped me? I quickly glanced at the sling, and reluctantly admitted to myself that he had actually done quite a good job on it.

Which was the cause for my confusion, why would he care whether I was in pain or not? Why would he bother to actually help towards _healing _my arm? Had he finally snapped, perhaps?

Surprisingly, what he had said had made me feel slightly guilty. I was acting immature and he _had _helped me. I could have tried to heal the bone myself, but I cringed at the thought of the amount of energy that would be needed. Energy that, though I hate myself for admitting this, I just didn't have. I didn't want to thank him though, that was the last thing that I would do, ever.

He tugged at my wrist again and my opinion of him dropped even more, if that were possible. Did he get some sort of sadistic pleasure in doing this to me? And what, exactly, did he mean by 'We're even now'?

I felt like screaming with frustration, this wasn't _fair. _

He was an _enemy. _

That much was clear to me at least. He may have put my arm in a sling and 'rescued' me from the soldiers, but he was still my enemy.

Just like every other goddamn firebender in this world.

But he was not just any firebender: he was their _prince._

He was a threat.

A threat to all the people I loved, a threat to Aang, a threat to my brother.

'Oh god, Aang…" I bit my lip, oh, I hoped that he and Sokka were both okay… hoped that they had gotten away, escaped, and flown far from here… 

He glared at me.

I was at his mercy, his _mercy. _

I would have no chance of defeating him in a fight. I was wounded and tired. Very tired.

Despite that fact, I obviously wasn't going to just give up and let him take me to…wherever he was going. My pride demanded that of me, no matter how tired I was.

I didn't even have any water at hand, my canteen having been so rudely stolen from me.

I could see it. _He_ had it. It was so close, yet just out of my reach. He wouldn't even stop for a moment, and I was aching all over. The arm that he was holding onto had almost lost all the feeling in it altogether. I had given up of trying to make sense of where I was long ago, as the trees seemed to have melded together in a continuous blur of green. I was sure now that I was in a forest, not a wood, and that made me feel as though I would never get out of here. It was not like the arctic tundra that I was used to, and even though I had been travelling with my brother and Aang for a while, I didn't think that I would ever get used to not seeing ice and snow everywhere around me. It was also hot; something else that I still was not used to. It was not so terribly hot that I could not stand it, but it was still too warm, even though it hadn't been spring for that long. The heat was making me feel sticky, dirty and very, very _irritable_. My robe was sticking to my back and the braid my hair was pulled into was feeling tight and uncomfortable, some of it had also gotten loose and was clinging to my face and neck, itching the skin. I longed to scratch it, but without being able to use either of my arms, that was impossible.

To put it all in a nutshell, I wasn't happy, and I was slowly falling into a state where the only thing keeping me going was that with each step, I was getting farther away from where I had fallen, farther away from the soldiers. Though, since I was a captive of none other than Prince Zuko, that didn't really count for much.

At least he seemed to be on his own.

Actually, where was that old man who always seemed to be hanging around him? His…uncle, where was he?

Then again, did I even care?

We were…well, to be honest, I had no idea where we were. I dimly registered that it was getting dark again. The sun was setting and as we kept going, I noticed that, gradually, it was getting cooler. I hoped that he wasn't going to make me walk during the night as well. I didn't really think I would be able to manage that, and if he dared, well, lets just say that…oh, I don't know what I would do. Either way, I just didn't have the strength and he had to know that. It was coming to the point where I wouldn't be able to take another step if we kept this pace up.

Even if he threatened to break my other arm.

Suddenly he stopped, and I bumped into him. I stumbled slightly, but his grip on my arm prevented me from falling over completely. The abrupt stop had caused my knees to buckle; I hadn't realized that I was _that _tired. He turned to look at me again. Something flickered across his features. I knew it would not be concern, contempt, probably. I said nothing, although I really wanted to snap at him, instead focusing on making sure that I didn't fall over again. I wanted to sit down, no, longed to sit down, but couldn't while he was still holding onto me. But I wasn't about to use his grip as a support, either.

To my surprise, he let go of my arm and I immediately stepped back from him. I watched him carefully, cradling my arm close to my chest. Now that he had released my arm, I thought about making a run for it, but didn't. I wasn't stupid, and I knew that if I tried, he would be after me in a second. Not knowing what else I could do, watching him seemed to be my only option, watching and waiting to see what he would do next.

I backed away when he approached me, trying not to wince when he narrowed his eyes. There was a hardness in them that…I didn't like. And a coldness to them that was making me feel uncomfortable. It was like his face was set in stone, cold and emotionless. In a way that scared me more than if he had been angry.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Why should I believe you?" Secretly, I was relieved, but I wasn't about to trust anything _he _said.

"Because, girl, if I had that intention, I would have done so by now."

"You could be leading me into a false sense of security, make me lower my guard, attack me when I'm weak." I knew how ridiculous that sounded, and I felt my face flush when he smirked at me.

"You're already weak." He looked at my sling pointedly and I bared my teeth.

"Then how can I trust you?"

"You can't."

"Exactly."

"I still won't hurt you, you have my word."

"And what would you know about honor?" He stiffened, and I realized that I may have gone a bit too far. I turned my head as he came up close, his face inches away from mine.

"More than you ever would." He hissed.

After a few tense moments, he turned and walked away, and I leaned against a tree for support. I noticed that I was shaking slightly, either from exhaustion, fear or maybe a bit of both. That was the least of my worries, however, as before I knew what I was doing, I had slumped down onto the ground with exhaustion, gasping a little as the sling was jostled. I felt so…drained, and it seemed like the world was spinning; I didn't know it was possible to be so tired.

But I couldn't fall asleep! No!

I couldn't keep struggling like this against my body either, I had been through a lot, and was in desperate need of rest.

He hadn't hurt me, like he had said, and part of me just wanted to believe him and sleep.

The other part was screaming at me not to trust him, saying that it would be the last thing I would ever do.

The tired part won.

OoO

He watched her as she fought herself, before eventually sleep took over and he saw her eyes close and her breathing pattern change, becoming slower, deeper.

'_Finally'_

He was not in the mood to deal with her, or her snide little comments. He had given her his word and had no intention of breaking it, although if she continued to act so _difficult_…

However, now that she was asleep, he could deal with a much more pressing matter: the whereabouts of his uncle. The retired general had told him that he would remain at the campsite; they had agreed that they would meet here if…well, for obvious reasons. He hated having to stay in one place for any longer than a day, but without his uncle…

What was it with everyone that they all felt like they had to try his patience? The old man had better have a good excuse for not being here.

Glowering, he rebuilt the remnants of his fire, lighting it with a short burst of flame from his hand. He made sure that it was only a small fire, that didn't burn too much and did not release too much smoke. He also wanted to make sure that it wouldn't attract…unwanted attention. By now, he was sure that the Fire Nation troops soldiers had left the area, but he still didn't want to risk it. It was bad enough that he had to light one in the first place.

Throwing a dirty look at the sleeping waterbender, He sat down himself, and proceeded to wait, while the light from the flames flickered across his face, reflecting in his eyes.

But patience was a quality that he found himself lacking in. It just was not in his nature. His uncle had always told him that it was a virtue, and was greatly needed, but sometimes he just could not stand having to wait. He had waited enough in the past already.

With an exaggerated sigh, he got up again, after only sitting for about five minutes. He paced a little, wondering if he should just go and look for the retired general, and if he should just leave _her_ here. What if she woke up while he was gone? Would she still try and escape?

He walked over to her again, and frowned. She looked so…innocent, lying there. It would have been hard for him to think that she was the same conniving little snake that had got between him and his goal so many times before. At that thought Zuko narrowed his eyes, she would definitely try and escape if she woke up. He would need some kind of incentive, something precious to her, something that would stop her from trying to do something so stupid.

A flash of blue at her neck caught his eye. Of course, her necklace! Without a moment's hesitation, he reached around the back of her neck and unfastened the ribbon that held it in place. Untying the ribbon, he froze as she stirred slightly, mumbling incoherently. He stayed absolutely still for a few seconds, but when nothing else happened he continued and successfully managed to remove it. He was about to put it in his pocket when he stopped himself, and he found himself looking at it. Without warning, a twinge of guilt surfaced and he blinked. It _was_ precious to her, and for some reason he felt like he was doing something terrible by taking it. Hadn't she said something about it belonging to her mother?

Looking at her again, he shoved the guilty feeling aside. There was no time for this sort of thing, and he needed to make sure that she would not escape. Besides, if she was still asleep when he came back, he would be able to put it back like nothing had ever happened.

Hurriedly stuffing the jewel in his pocket, he went back over to the fire, making sure that it was sheltered and had enough wood to keep burning a little while longer. Now all he had left to do was find his uncle, and tell him exactly what he felt about something, which for some unknown reason, he considered to be his uncle's fault.

He had only been going for a few minutes when these thoughts were banished, and what he saw was enough for him to regret leaving the old man that was the only real family he had left in the world for the remainder of his days.

His breath caught in his throat, and his eyes widened in shock at the scene of destruction that lay before him. Scorched earth and blasted tree trunks surrounded him; a few had even been split down the middle and blackened. It was like a section of the woodland had been blasted apart, and anything that had gotten in the way had been burnt to ash or torn apart.

He was snapped out of his trance by a loud coughing behind him, and he spun around, whipping his dagger out of its sheath at his belt and automatically going into a defensive stance.

He straightened again when he saw the source of the noise, and he lowered his dagger although he did not sheathe it. He approached the soldier carefully. He saw, with sickening horror, that the man had suffered a fatal wound, a deep slash in his side, inches deep. It looked as though he had just been left here.

Zuko's lip curled in disgust when he noticed that the man was still alive. This man was a Fire Nation soldier, and soldiers always traveled or patrolled an area in a group. What was he doing alone like this?

"What happened here? Tell me while you're still alive." The man coughed again, blood trickling down his chin from the corners of his mouth. Zuko thought that the man had gone pass the point of understanding when a choking laugh escaped the soldier.

"You…won't f…find him here…boy." Zuko felt the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen. He grabbed the man's collar.

"Where is my uncle?"

Another racking cough, but no answer.

"Tell me where he is and I'll put you out of your misery." The man was looking at him now, a twisted gleam in his eye that made the young prince feel physically sick.

"Y…your sister…says hello." Zuko paled, and let go of the collar. As the realization of the man's words sunk in, it was like his world was crumbling to pieces.

He only remembered feeling like this once before.

His breathing became ragged and he began to shake with anger as he fought himself.

His uncle…no…it couldn't be, it was impossible… His uncle…captured? Killed? No, no it couldn't be true. It was a lie…his uncle was the best fighter he knew…he had to have escaped…It couldn't be…

With an outraged yell, he incinerated the man with a burst of fire, the dying laughter echoing in his mind.

It seemed he had been kneeling in that position forever, his hand out and his breathing harsh. He balled his hands into fists and slowly stood up. As he made his way back to the campsite, his mind was blank and he felt numb…all over.

He looked up and saw her, still asleep.

Suddenly, he knew exactly what he had to do.

OoO

A/N: And now things start to get sticky.


	6. First Interlude

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

First Interlude

"It was my fault." He looked up at the older boy; his usually bright and happy grey eyes full of remorse.

Sokka turned and shook his head.

"Don't think that Aang. She's not lost." He willed himself to believe that, even as he scanned the ground below him for the fifth time. She was not lost, she was not gone. She was there somewhere, and he was going to find her.

"Yes it was! I failed! I could have saved her!"

"No, there was nothing you could have done, and we will save her!" The Water Tribe boy glared at the monk, who fell silent and looked away.

Sokka knew that his sister was still alive, she was down there somewhere.

"We'll find her." The young avatar looked up again and nodded, hope returning to his eyes as he heard the determination in his friends voice.

They would find her.

OoO

The blindfold was removed from his face and he blinked, unused to the light that flooded his vision. Gradually, his eyes became accustomed to the brightness.

What he saw, however, was enough to make him wish that he were in darkness again.

"Hello uncle. So nice of you to join me." Finding his voice, he answered her slowly.

"That is not the choice of words that I would use." He was met by a large smile, but it was one that did not meet her eyes.

"Always so abrupt. What happened to civility among family members?"

"You know very well what. Though I must say I am surprised, I would have thought that you would have already killed me."

"What? Kill you? Now why would I want to do that?"

"Stop toying with me Azula. Why am I here?" She threw a mock sigh, and looked down at him from where she was standing.

"What good is capturing someone when you cannot gloat about it?"

"That's not all it's about is it?" Her eyes hardened and she glared at the old man chained to the chair. He was taking all the fun out of this.

"Where is my nephew?" There. He had struck a nerve.

"Your _nephew _is not here."

"What have you done?"

"Nothing." She looked at him slyly under hooded eyes.

"Nothing?"

"He was not there." Iroh let out a small sigh of relief.

"You do not know where he is." He paused as she approached him slowly.

"Not yet. But I will find out."

OoO


	7. Two Faced Luck

**A/N: Once again, thanks for all the reviews. They help to inspire me! So please, R&R! I do accept signed and anonymous reviews now; I kinda didn't before because I forgot to change the settings on my account…but I have now…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last airbender, this is fanfiction and I make no profit.**

Chapter 6: Two-Faced Luck

I could handle this. I could deal with this.

It wasn't like I hadn't been in worse situations before right? I had been in worse places and managed to escape before, who says that this would be any different? Of course Aang and Sokka had always been there…

Okay, I'll be calm about this, I'll be all right, and I'll get out of this and find them. Always did before.

I can handle this. No problem.

For about the tenth time I wondered where Aang and Sokka were. I wondered if they were flying above me right now, and I wondered if I was to look up right now I might see Appa's shadow pass over me. Maybe…just maybe they were…okay.

The silence was almost eerie.

I couldn't take it. But breaking it would mean I would have to talk to him. Or it would be like talking to myself, most likely the latter. He had been ignoring me the entire time, which annoyed me, because he wouldn't answer any of my questions. Sure, I couldn't care less if he didn't want to talk to me, but I still hated not knowing anything, because it made me feel like there was nothing I could do.

I had never been more relieved to see trees thinning out before in my life. A few minutes more and I would see something else other than trees, Zuko, ground, maybe a bush and more trees. He had gripped my arm again by now, and that grip was gradually tightening as the trees become smaller and the gaps between them became larger. Not tight enough to hurt, really, but I could sense the warning in his actions: don't run off; don't try to escape.

The pace had been painfully slow as we approached the edge of the forest, it seemed to finally end, or begin, some way from the sea, but not too far. I figured that we were a small distance now from the town, barely a kilometre. However, I was almost wary with this fact. I'm not sure what it was, but some small part of me felt that I should avoid that town. The other, more logical, part told me that if we were heading that way, then I could use this opportunity to find out some information, like what had happened to Aang and my brother. If not, well, no news was better than bad news.

Zuko seemed…agitated to say the least.

And boy, was he agitated. In fact the closer we had come to the edge of the forest the moodier he had became, and now that we were close to the town…It wasn't that he was hurting me or even insulting me, he was just so cold. He hadn't spoken at all to me since this morning, in a way letting his actions – like the grip on my arm – be the thing that kept reminding me of my, for lack of a better word, position. I had given up on asking questions, as his mood became blacker, caution kept me quiet. Besides, if I had kept it up any further, I might have pushed him over the edge.

From what I knew about him, saying that he didn't control his anger very well was an understatement. So, in a way I was surprised that he had lasted so long, especially with the increasing tetchiness. What he was doing just confused me, had been confusing me since I had woken up.

Blinking a couple of times, I stopped walking when he did, and took the opportunity to look around, we had, by now, come to a track. It looked as though it had been dug into the ground, like a small trench. The trees had thinned here and the gaps between them had grown larger, and I begun to notice other little things. Things like hoof prints and ruts made by what could only be wheels in the dirt, suggesting that this track was used quite a lot.

We were stood on a slope, not quite past the trees but not on the path. I looked around, turning my head to follow the track with my eyes and seeing no one else.

Finally, I broke the silence.

"Do you actually know where we are?"

No answer.

This had turned out to be a really fun day, and the afternoon was passing. Almost two days now, I realised with upsettingly clarity, and no sign of Aang or Sokka or Appa or even Momo…and _Zuko_ was just so…I glared at him as I remembered this morning.

_I had slept deeply that night, despite all that had happened and the discomfort that sleeping on the floor with my back against a tree trunk brought. I had welcomed the rest, welcomed the comfort, as sparse as it was, of being able to sink in the darkness and drown out the world around me. For a moment, I was able to forget everything that had happened over the last few hours; maybe it had even all just been a dream…_

"_Wake up." Why? I didn't want to, I liked just lying here. _

_I ignored the voice, shifting slightly to try and settle into a more comfortable position. I drew my legs up against my stomach, and my arm was resting against them._

"_I said wake up." The voice was louder this time, more impatient, cutting through my stupor and causing me to wince at the sharpness of it. _

"_Go away Sokka…" I mumbled, the automatic response coming out of my mouth. I groaned as a hand shook my shoulder roughly and jostled my sling…wait, my sling?_

"_Get up peasant!" Sokka never called me peasant. Suddenly it all came rushing back like a tidal wave into my mind: the attack, letting go of the glider, a broken arm and an irate prince…_

_My eyes snapped open to see another pair looking straight at me. And by the looks of things, their owner was already angry. _

_The sun hadn't even properly come up yet, as the sky was still dark when I looked up. It wasn't that I was a late sleeper or anything, I was used to getting up early. I had to, whether it be because of being raised in a small village in the South Pole where being an early riser was necessary or because of all the travelling that I had been doing with Sokka and Aang. But still, this was hardly the time of day for me to be happy about waking, or should I say being woken, up._

"_You're up already? What time is it?" No answer. Not that I had really expected one._

"_Get up. I will not ask you again." I groaned again, pushing myself up into a sitting position with my good arm, being careful not to move the sling. I blinked and looked up at him, my face darkening as my slightly bewildered look quickly turned into a glare. He returned it with one in kind, before turning away from me._

_Shaking my head slightly, I looked away again, before slowly hoisting myself into a crouching position and getting up, pushing my hand against the tree trunk as I did so to help me keep my balance. I gasped quietly as I straightened out my legs, they were stiff and had that pins and needles feeling, and it took just a little effort to remain steady. I stood for a moment, waiting for the feeling to return to my body. I shivered slightly wishing that I had my parka, all of the heat from yesterday having been replaced by a colder night._

_I felt myself raise my eyebrows as I saw Zuko. He looked haggard and pale (well, paler than he usually was) and looked as though he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in ages. I realised that I probably was in a similar state, but at least I was feeling somewhat revived now. He looked as though he had stayed up all night, which, I mused, he probably had._

_Just as long as he hadn't been staring at me while I slept…I froze, before giving him a suspicious look. Being asleep, I had no idea as to what he had been doing last night; he would have had plenty of time to plan something. Did he intend to use me to get to Aang? Was he going to interrogate me? Well if he was, he wasn't getting anything out of this waterbender._

_My suspicion of him caused me to feel strange, and without realising it, my hand had crept up to the hollow at the base of my neck._

_My mother's necklace was there, but the stone was freezing cold. Now why would that be?_

"_What?" He demanded, and I blinked in surprise._

"_What are you planning to do with me?" No answer. "Well?"_

"_You are in no position to ask questions, peasant." _

"_My name is not peasant." I had had enough of him calling me that, because even though it was true that I was a peasant from the Southern Water Tribe, he could at least have the decency to use my name. He should know it by now._

_But wait…what am I talking about? Decency? He was prince of the Fire Nation. What would he know about decency? _

_I tried again with my question, but the response I got from him was pretty much the same. After that, he practically ignored me and just left me standing there as he moved around the site, clearing away the fire, packing things up to leave…_

_To leave? Oh no. No. I am not going anywhere with him. No. Absolutely not. I had done that yesterday, but I had been tired then, weaker, but I wasn't so much now. There was no way, no chance that I was going to do that today. No._

_He threw something at me, and I blinked before something long and black came at me, making me stumble backwards awkwardly as I tried to catch it with one hand. I shook it slightly to find that it was some sort of cloak, the coarse black material felt rough against my hand, but at least it was clean._

"_Don't just stand there. Put it on." I glowered at him, but bit back the retort that was hanging off the tip of my tongue and did what he said, pulling it over my head. It was awkward, having to do it with one hand while at the same time being careful of my arm, but I managed to slip it on over my robe well enough. It was a bit too big, but it was warm, so I didn't really have anything to complain about. However, now I was just confused all over again, why give me this when he could just leave me to shiver?_

_He got something else out of his pack, which I saw to be a straw hat, and he placed it firmly on his head. The brim came down and covered the top half of his face, effectively hiding his scar from view as long as he didn't look up. I realized then that it must be for…disguise. He took the pack and pulled it on, adjusting the straps slightly before he looked at me._

"_Time to go girl." He said before he approached me, and I shook my head. He had some nerve, ordering me around like this! And he hadn't used my name again._

"_No. And my name is Katara. Say it with me Ka-ta-ra!" _

"_And I've told you before, I really couldn't care less. Now move!"_

"_No."_

"_Move, before I make you." He lowered his voice, making it sound threatening and, to my disgust, it sent shivers down my spine. _

"_What're you going to do, fling me over your shoulder and force me to go with you?" I said defiantly, hiding my apprehension. He narrowed his eyes at me from under his hat, and I realized my mistake: he probably could actually do that._

_I yelped and made as if to bolt, but he seized my around the middle and hauled me back, before lifting me up and practically throwing my over his shoulder. I beat my fist against his back, yelping again as my sling was moved to adjust to this position. _

"_Put me down!"_

"_Are you going to cooperate?"_

"_What kind of question is that?"_

"_Fine." He started to walk forward, despite my protests._

"_No, wait! You can't do this!" _

"_Actually…yes I can."_

"_No you can't." I yelped again as he jostled me._

"_Give me one reason, girl, one reason…"_

"_My name is Katara!"_

_He continued on, ignoring my last statement. I decided to change tact._

"_Are you sure that my struggling and your carrying me over your shoulder won't attract attention?"_

_He looked at me, a sneer forming._

"_It'll be a while before we get out of here."_

"_You'll get tired soon enough. You're carrying both your pack and me. And it looks like you stayed up all night last night." He gave me such a glare that I felt the shivers again. This time, however, I couldn't hide them from him._

"_Scared of me?"_

"_No." I paused. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. He was twice as strong as me…he could easily hurt me, even though he had given me his word, and despite the fact that I was arguing with him, I was still agonizingly aware that I was still at his mercy. _

"_Then you really are foolish."_

"_Let me go." _

"_No."_

"_Put me down."_

"_No."_

_I let out an exasperated sigh; I knew where this was going._

_It seemed like I was in exactly the same position as yesterday, but there was something else. He hadn't exploded in an anger fit yet, I noticed. He was…controlling himself? I didn't dare voice my suspicions, though. _

"_Put me down." I repeated. _

"_Stop struggling." Gods above. I sighed again, before averting my eyes._

"_Fine." I mumbled, hating myself for agreeing, yet loathing his way of making me agree._

_"Good." He put me down._

That was how it had been since; and I suppose it could be called a 'mutual agreement', for now, that is.

I wouldn't struggle; he wouldn't force me to go with him in a horribly embarrassing way. It wasn't much of a deal, but still. I needed to keep my strength up if I wanted to try and escape later.

But as we had moved on, I still had to ask myself:

What exactly was he planning?

I hadn't found out, or guessed, even though I had thought about it a lot today. He was most probably using me to get to Aang, but since I didn't know where the Avatar was, that didn't really make a lot of sense. And then there was him.

What was he doing way out here anyway? And why was he alone?

Had his…uncle…finally gotten sick of him or something? Somehow I knew that that wasn't right. I remembered the old man from the Oasis; he didn't seem like the kind of man that would do something like that. No…something was going on, and hell if I was going to be dragged into it. I was going to find out exactly where my friends and family were, and then I was going to escape. Somehow.

I turned my head round to look at him, and had to stop myself from rolling my eyes as the urge overtook me. He had this perpetual scowl fixed on his face, and I swear that it hadn't changed since I…well I'd never seen him without it, unless he was sneering, of course. I wasn't sure which one I preferred. Didn't the guy ever have any fun? Or laugh? Or even just smile?

"I need to ask you something." I snapped out of my thoughts and glared at him.

"What?" I snapped back at him.

"I need to go…nearer the town. And you're coming with me. Can I trust you not to do anything _stupid?" _I was stunned, and could only give him a bewildered look for a few moments before I could say anything.

"Why would you be afraid to go near that place? I mean, I know it's…" I trailed off at his expression. "What?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" I didn't like that tone.

"Never mind."

"What don't I know?"

"Just don't…draw any attention to yourself. Can you manage that?" I gave him a deadpan look; _oh_ he was pushing it. I clenched my jaw, before swallowing my pride and nodding my head. I needed to find out about my family, and this was likely the best opportunity I would get. I was confused though – for why would he take me with him when he could have just left me tied to some tree out of sight? He hesitantly let go of my arm and watched me for a few moments, but when I did nothing he continued on and I followed him, keeping close, but not too close.

Why did he have to confuse me so much? And why was I thinking about him when I should be focusing on my friends and my escape!

About half an hour later (please, please, _please_ let something happen soon- I don't think I'll be able to stand another minute of this) and there it was. The entrance was guarded, and even though there was just one, I instantly tensed, feeling uneasy. I looked down at the ground, feeling my hair fall past my face. It had been a loath to take it out of its braid earlier; I _never _wore it loose. As soon as this was over, it was going back in the braid. No doubt about that. I usually hated the way it kept going in my face, and I always thought that with it down it made me look different, ironic that I was keeping it down now for those exact reasons.

I had to admit though, having it down like this was in a way better right now, as the traditional water tribe hairstyle was a bit too noticeable and out of place here. It did hide my face, I wasn't sure if I would be recognised. Gods above this was stupid. I guess I had been thinking along the same lines as Zuko when he asked me not to draw attention to myself here…hah. I wasn't sure if my gut feeling had been right about this place, I hadn't seen any Fire Nation soldiers yet but still…this area on a whole was supposed to be controlled by the Fire Nation; the attack earlier was indication enough. I shuddered involuntarily and Zuko shot me a warning glance.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zuko pull his hat down further. I had to give him some credit, his disguise wasn't that bad. I'd have thought that he wouldn't have been able to cope with the whole 'commoner' look, being the arrogant prick of a prince that he was. But it seemed that he was just full of surprises right now.

My pulse quickened as I saw more of them, there were a few guards. Unconsciously I stiffened as I saw two of them at the entrance to the village, lazily scanning the area with that sickening sense of overconfidence. I flickered my eyes upwards as we got through though quite easily with no hassle, although a couple of people did look at me because of my arm. I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding. Those Fire Nation soldiers were sloppy, they weren't even trying, which was just as well. My suspicions _had_ been proven correct, after all. There weren't many soldiers inside the village, a few here and there, maybe, but from the looks of things, they were just as bad.

We weaved around a couple of houses and down an alley, Zuko seemed to know where he was going and I didn't press for an explanation (I probably wouldn't have gotten one anyway). We exited the alley and a soft gasp escaped my mouth at what I saw. The village was small, and due to the fact that it was on the edge of cliff, that wasn't really surprising. But despite its size, it amazed me, how were these people able to live like this? It was so high up and I could see the sea that spread out like some immense blanket of never-ending blue and against the setting sun…it was beautiful. I felt a smile tug at my lips as I watched my element spread out like that, marvelling at the calming effect it had on me. Zuko was off doing…something, but I didn't really care.

And I was calming down. The view was helping to relax me a little, but I wasn't stupid enough to let my guard down. There was still Zuko. And with the sun setting…that meant I had been away from my family for two days…

I tore my head away from the sight, holding back a reluctant sigh as I did so. I still needed to try find out anything that might help me, but I wasn't sure where to start. I guess I should just keep my eyes and ears open, and I silently cursed myself for wandering off like that. I had things to do.

I tensed as I felt rather than saw someone come up behind me.

OoO

"Did you see the size of that thing?" Zuko narrowed his eyes as a loud and obnoxious peasant started talking right behind him, and he made as if to move away, but the next statement made him stop and stand absolutely still, as if his feet had suddenly been encased in rock.

"What did you expect? She's a princess after all." Zuko had frozen at these words, coming from a significantly quieter speaker from the small group surrounding the first man. He regained control of his actions by leaning a little closer, not wanting to miss anything they said. Please, let this be what he thought it was! He glanced at the girl, but she hadn't noticed anything. Good. She was just standing there; blissfully unaware of what was going on right under her nose, or so to speak.

He had been edgy about coming here, but with the circumstances as they were; he found that he had no choice. The idea that no soldiers in this area because of Azula's appearance and the notion that she would use them as well as her own troops, thus taking them away from the village, would have been too much to hope for. But this…could he possibly dare hope that he was finally getting some luck for once? He had not been recognised, and here was the perfect opportunity to find out information about his uncle, Azula, and where they were heading. He could not screw this up now and he hoped the girl wouldn't either.

"What was she doin' here anyways?"

"Not sure, but whatever it was, it's gotta 'ave bin important." Yes he knew that, get on with it already! He ground his teeth together with his own impatience, come on! He needed to know more!

"Where d'you think she was headed for?" Zuko held his breath.

"I…"

"Hey! What's going on here?" The group turned, startled as…no! Not now! No! Two soldiers had noticed the group, and were now approaching them. Zuko backed into the alley and into the shadows, effectively hiding himself from view. He cursed silently as he heard subdued apologies and the sounds of shuffling feet growing fainter as the group dispersed and move away. He had been so close! Why? Why did they have to interrupt that conversation? He cursed again as he realized that the soldiers had not left along with the peasants. He felt a surge of anger towards the two men, but kept himself from lashing out at them and incinerating them where they stood.

"Stupid idiots, they should know better than to talk about stuff like that." Zuko scowled in annoyance, his already dark expression becoming even fiercer.

"Meh, what d'you expect? They're peasants. This is a quiet place, it's not every day that you see awarship, and an _imperial_ one no less"

"And you would know about that?" The soldier's voice was dripping with sarcasm. Zuko closed his eyes for a moment and fought to stop himself from shaking. Agitation had already been there, and now it had grown into a rage that coursed through his veins. He willed himself to calm down, if there was ever a time for self-control, it was now. He couldn't risk that and drawing attention to himself, a distraction like that could have disastrous consequences, not to mention that it would give the girl the perfect opportunity to escape him. He breathed in slowly. If they weren't going to talk about anything important, then…

"They say she's moving north, upriver." Yes! His anger was replaced by a grim triumph, and Zuko fervently thanked whatever Gods there were for this, his small hope instantly renewed and he strained his ears to catch every detail of what they were saying. He quickly made sure that the girl hadn't noticed anything yet, she hadn't.

"But her ship was just off coast!" He leaned in closer, straining to hear their voices.

"Apparently, she's heading towards Insho. Heard that she's meeting her ship there." Zuko blinked, and his scowl was replaced by surprise. No way! He had thought…this was unbelievable!

"What! But that journey would take at least two weeks, what with the tides. It makes no sense, why would she do that?"

"Not our place to ask that. And do you really think tides will stop her? No, something's up and the less we talk about it, the better." A nod in agreement from the man's companion, and the two went back to their posts.

This was too good to be true! Insho! That was where she was heading? Perhaps there was hope after all - he would have jumped for joy if he hadn't been well…him. But this brief moment of elation was cut short almost instantly.

Two weeks. Under the brim of his hat, Zuko shut his eyes again in dismay. He would never make it in time on foot!

He growled quietly, there was _always _something.

"GET OFF ME!" Shit! The girl!

He spun around, and acted in a second, leaping forward and pulling her towards and behind him with one hand, whipping out his dagger with the other and turning to face her attacker all at the same time. The man lunged at him, but Zuko reacted quickly and kneed him in the stomach. The man doubled over swearing before he leapt back up again and tried to punch Zuko in the face. Zuko sidestepped this attack quickly and the man howled as he received a cut to the cheek. Zuko readied himself for another attack, but it never came. The man had stumbled back, and was now running away from them. Zuko sneered.

'_coward.' _He turned to her, quickly checking that she wasn't hurt. However, her yell and the commotion caused by the fight had attracted the attention of the soldiers, and he heard the sound of clinking armour and pounding, armoured shoes. It was time to go.

"Come on, we have to get out of here." She stood there for a few seconds, momentarily frozen by shock. He heard the footsteps rapidly coming closer, and a shout of surprise. His hat had fallen off.

"Katara, MOVE!" She instantly snapped out of it, and they ran back down the alley, with the soldiers closing in on them.

They ran, skirting round corners and trying to stay ahead. But the soldiers were right behind them, their numbers steadily growing as more joined them in the chase. Both teenagers focused on putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the guards. Zuko was dimly aware that Katara was using her waterbending and had managed to freeze the ground behind them, giving them valuable seconds as a few of the soldiers slipped and the others behind them were forced to dodge them. Zuko turned and shot a couple of fireballs at them, knocking over two more before he put on another burst of speed.

That few seconds was all they needed, and they managed to turn the corner and hide before the guards could recover and they hid in the cover of the gradually growing darkness, as the soldiers came rushing past them. As the sound of heavy boots passed, Zuko looked at Katara, noticing that the girl was panting.

"That was close."

"Too close. It's not over yet, we have to move."

"How can we get out of here?" Zuko hesitated at her question, before an idea sprung up in his mind, his years of training paying off. Another thing he had to thank his uncle for.

"When we came in, did you notice the building that was next to the far end of the square?"

"What? You think I would notice one building" He reigned in his temper.

"Stables. They had to be." Always take in your surroundings. Rule number two.

"Stables! Oh you can't be serious! I've never ridden a horse or a Rhino before!" She whispered frantically as his mind raced.

"Never?"

"No!"

"You have that mammoth flying _thing_, and you can't even ride a horse?" The glare she shot him was so poisonous; he had to stop himself from wincing.

"That is if there even _is _one."

"Look, there's no time for this. Just sit on it and I'll stop you from falling off." He loathed this part of his idea, what he would have to do, and from the looks of things, she did too. But it was all he could come up with, and considering the circumstances, that was pretty damn good.

"No one's coming, time to move."

"What…but I…"

"Now!"

Not waiting for another answer, he pulled her up and they set off again, quietly making there way to the entrance, although it was hard going. They had to stop and hide in the shadows every time they heard guards.

They got there, eventually. There was someone there, and Zuko had to quickly knock him out. Katara shook her head disapprovingly, but didn't say anything.

Zuko took a couple of minutes but quickly found a horse, coming out with it quietly before reluctantly moving towards her. Katara made a face in response.

"I can get up myself."

"Oh really? I thought you couldn't ride a horse."

"I can't. But getting up on one is different. I don't need _your _help."

"Good, because I don't to give it." He paused, before adding "Don't get up _behind_ it, whatever you do."

"I know!"

"Get on with it then." She approached the animal warily, and he grit his teeth, impatient with how slow she was being. She scrambled awkwardly up, and sat stiffly, a mortified expression on her face as she struggled to keep her balance. He effortlessly got up behind her, and she took a moment to scowl at him.

Quickly, he urged the horse into a trot, and then a canter.

They sped forwards, as angry shouts ensued and guards rushed after them and towards the exit.

The canter became a gallop, and Katara yelped as she almost fell off, Zuko being the only thing that stopped her.

Two of the guards were caught unawares, and had to leap aside as the creature and its riders thundered past.

The gate was closing, the soldiers getting ready to shoot fire.

The fire came towards them.

And a shield of ice blocked it as Katara's arm just missed his face.

They made it past the gate, just as it closed behind them.

Zuko sighed in relief as he heard the now frustrated yells become quieter and continued the horse's pace, galloping back before turning off the path and creating as much distance as he possibly could, as they escaped in amidst of confused and angry roars, dust and pounding hooves.

**A/N: They weren't in the village for long now were they? Stupid hypocritical guards, hehehehe…**

**So, what do you all think? I was going to make this chapter between 3–4000 words, but the flashback idea came up and it ended up longer than I thought it would, so in a way…yay! I wrote a long chapter! I hope you liked it. Sorry the update took a while. Please, views are really appreciated! Thanks again!**

**Velori.**


	8. Cold

**A/N: No flames yet, so far so good.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA…oh well.**

Chapter 7: Cold

I'm not even going to think about this.

Considering the circumstances, I thought that I was being pretty calm about this, I mean; we had just escaped a Fire Nation infested town, _together, _pretty much unscathed. And here I was, just sitting still with my fingers wrapped gently in the horse's mane, not tugging it or anything, with my other arm resting in its sling on its neck. I was hunched over slightly, my legs dangling limply by the creature's sides.

He had slowed the horse down to a trot and then a merciful walk a while ago, I wasn't sure how long exactly, but we had been riding at the walking pace ever since, we had gotten off the horse a couple of times to give it a rest, but we were tired, and in sore need of rest ourselves. Who knew that sitting on one of these animals bareback could hurt so much? I liked to think that I had found a way to balance myself, and tried to adapt to its movements, but it still felt unbelievably awkward. After a while I had kind of found a rhythm but it still felt like I was going to fall off, but then again, I hadn't (yet). I guess I had Zuko to thank for that, though it was a loath to admit. He seemed to be completely and confident of himself, and I could tell that he had obviously ridden animals like horses a lot even though I had only ever seen on Fire Nation Rhinos before – when he was usually chasing us.

My arm sure didn't help any, I hadn't had the chance to check it yet, and now it was itching like crazy. I longed to scratch it, but was afraid of falling off the horse. So I had just sat there letting it itch, and hoped that we would be able to stop soon.

We'd had to keep away from the track, as a few of the guards would have had to come out after us. In a weirdly disconcerting way, I felt as though escaping had almost been too easy. But I wasn't about to complain. At least we had gotten out of there, and I was still alive.

I hadn't got any news about Aang or Sokka, but that made me feel as relieved as it made me feel saddened. Even though I hadn't heard anything it also gave me a rush of hope – if they had been captured, that Fire Nation Town would have been able to do nothing but talk, even if they were told to keep quiet. Capturing someone as important as the Avatar isn't something that can usually be kept quiet.

This idea gave me my hope, and I clung to it as though it were my life raft in the middle of a storm.

I had no idea of the time now, and I didn't want to ask Zuko. I was tired again, and doing something like that would have probably started another argument, and really, I didn't want to fight with him right now. But I didn't want to fall asleep, either, even as I felt myself begin to drift off a couple of times, I willed myself to keep awake and alert. We weren't far enough away yet. If he could stay awake then so could I, and he had already been awake for two whole days as far as I could tell.

I didn't even want to start fathoming how exhausted he would be.

I wondered that if I was to try and escape now, if he would have the energy to stop me? Maybe, maybe not. But I knew that if he were determined in something he did, nothing would stop him.

It was like there were two different sides of me, arguing on what I should do. One said that I should try and escape as soon as I came to an available source of water; the other said that that would be stupid, as he would probably find some hidden store of energy and bring me back kicking and screaming to exactly where we had started. I didn't really want to start a whole thing where we were back to yelling and going at each other's throats again. One said that I should wait until he had fallen asleep (he was still human after all, or at least I think he was) and run away; the other reminded me that I had nowhere to run to, that I should just stay alert in case Aang and Sokka find me and try not to get killed…it was pride versus common sense, and I wasn't sure which one would win. I knew that I had to get away from Zuko, but how to do so…now _that_ was the problem.

It was late, in any case. Time was either going really fast, or really slow right now, and at the moment it seemed to take forever for just a minute to pass. I wasn't sure if it was just me or if time had _really _slowed down. There was a certain tension in the air as well, which didn't help, and I longed for it all just to stop.

I blinked when I felt the horse stop, and I realized that I hadn't really noticed that it had still been moving or not. On Appa, the wind served as a constant reminder that you were moving, even when your eyes were closed. On a horse, I guess I had just become so numb that I had gotten used to the horse's movements and just…stopped noticing. I blinked again when he quickly jumped down. I felt cold immediately wash over me, and I closed my eyes firmly shut upon realising exactly how close he had been behind me.

I opened them again, and started to slide off, trying to find a way down which wouldn't mean that I would end up as some heap on the floor. Eventually I managed to get down, but gasped as I felt my knees buckle as soon as my feet touched the ground.

I had jumped off a ten ton magical flying monster before with no problem, why was a horse so different!

I could just visualise his smirk, even though I couldn't see him. My face flushed in anger at this thought and I managed to push myself up again, wobbling slightly but getting up nonetheless. I wasn't naturally a clumsy person, and was generally good at keeping my balance. I blinked at felt my face grow heated again as I saw how he wasn't even looking at me. It was like he was thinking about something. I felt my jaw tighten and turned away, determined not to look at him either, whilst trying not to wince at the stiffness brought by sitting in one position on a horse for too long.

He took the animal's reins and secured it so it couldn't run off. Just like me, although I wasn't physically tied down. After that he went over and lit a fire, sitting down behind it, and even though I wasn't looking at him I was constantly aware of what he was doing.

I felt my heart start to beat a little faster – the tension had been growing ever since our escape, and now it was unbearable. What I had said earlier about being calm…I was mad. Mad, mad, mad.

He wasn't looking at me, and I wasn't looking at him.

I didn't want to break the silence, because that would mean that I would be talking to him. It was just like earlier, except this time ten times worse – because it wasn't a silence brought about by hatred. It was a silence brought about by something else…something that I think is worse than hatred: shock. Shock at the knowledge that we. Had. Worked. Together. No matter how much I was trying to deny it, we had.

"Look…" No don't, please don't. He didn't say anything more. The silence grew again, awkward, and uncomfortable.

So I gathered up my courage.

"Thank you." I kept my voice as calm as I could, but it wavered slightly at the end, becoming a hoarse whisper.

"For what?" His bitter voice caused me to look at my feet. I didn't want to answer that, wasn't it obvious?

"For helping me…again." No answer. This time, I didn't need one, I had said it. It was said.

I turned around to see that he was watching me now, no emotion on his face whatsoever. I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but in a way, I was thankful, also. He hadn't mocked or scorned me like I had thought he would. I wondered if his behaviour meant that…he was taking what I had just said seriously?

Another annoying twinge in my arm brought my attention to the splint. Okay, first things first. I sat down and started to slowly unwrap the material from around my neck, supporting my arm against my thigh. I winced a little as it came off and away from the arm, and then winced again at what I saw.

That was some nice bruising. At least the bone hadn't gone through my skin; that would have been…I shuddered at the thought at how _lucky_ I had been. I also saw that the bandages needed to be washed or replaced, and I wrinkled my nose. I couldn't do that at the moment, unless someone was to help me.

I looked up to see that he was still looking at me with a strangely calculating expression, his attention on what I was doing. I sighed, determinedly focusing on examining my arm again. I guess I could try. But as I started to tug at the material, he stopped me.

"You shouldn't do that. It's only beginning to heal." I was puzzled by how calm and indifferent his voice was.

"Give me back my canteen, I know what I'm doing." He didn't do anything of the sort, but merely arched his eyebrow.

"And why would I do that?" I tensed, was this going to lead to another argument?

"I'm going to try…"

"You can heal bones?"

"Well, no, but I…"

"Then why would you need it?"

"I'm not going to fight you with only a canteen of water." I hissed at him, glaring at him as I snapped my head up. My anger flaring up again, so quickly that it shocked even me.

"Exactly."

"So what? You think that you can keep me from having any water, _at all?"_ They were out before I could stop them. He narrowed his eyes. I sighed again; I was only wasting my energy doing this. I told myself that I needed to remain calm, not become angry just because he was, patronising me? No. His voice didn't sound patronising, guarded maybe, but not patronising, which was nothing short of surprising.

"Give me back my canteen…please."

"What?"

"Please."

"Why?" His tone was still calm, but the look he gave me was suspicious now.

I gave another exasperated sigh.

"Iamgoingtouseittoreducetheswelling." I said quietly through gritted teeth. He folded his arms across his chest. "I am going to use it to reduce the swelling." I said more clearly, staring at him straight in the eye.

"You shouldn't get it wet." I bit back the retort to ask him what, exactly, did he think he knew about healing?

"It's only temporary. After I'm done with the bruising, I'll bend the water back out of the material and then I'll be finished. If I repeat it every day or so, the healing process will take less time." I said this, remembering Yagoda's hints and trying to keep my voice as calm as his. Even though I had been so eager to learn waterbending with Master Pakku, the few healing lessons and hints from my grandmother's friend still managed to stick themselves in my head.

"How long?"

"About a week and a half to two weeks, maybe less if I do it properly."

"I thought you just said you couldn't heal bones?"

"I can't, this is really just helping the healing process, speeding it up. There are some waterbending healers that can heal bones in an instant, by knitting the stuff together as easily as if it were something like healing a paper cut, but I…" I let myself trail off, wondering why I was actually telling him this and why he even cared. I was staring at him now, clutching my arm and looking at him through the fire as I spoke.

"Alright." I was shocked speechless…had he just said what I just thought he said?

He came over, taking my canteen out his belt and shoving it into my hand. My eyes widened and I stared at him for a few more seconds before looking at it again, my mouth slightly opened.

"Wha…?" Not the best of responses, I'll admit.

"Well, get on with it then." His voice had reverted to its usual snappiness and I jumped slightly. He moved back to his sitting place opposite me across the fire while I continued to gape at my canteen. I looked at him again and he stared at me pointedly.

Using my knees to hold it, I unscrewed the cap and drew the water out slowly, watching him closely the whole time. I kept thinking that this was just some cruel joke, that he wouldn't let me try and heal myself at all but snatch my canteen away and laugh at me. But he did nothing. His expression was guarded with no emotion whatsoever, but somehow, I felt that he was watching me just as closely as I was watching him.

I shivered as I felt the cold water touch my skin, revelling in how soothing it felt against the bruised flesh. Focusing completely on the water now, I formed a glove around my hand and willed the water to work with my body and I felt it begin to glow. I pressed my palm to my arm, trying not to wince and lose my focus even a little. I felt the water seep through the fabric before the pain receded and the swelling started to go down, the bruises immediately becoming less and less purple and my skin becoming more and more like it's normal tanned color. Although it was true that I didn't know how to heal bone, I could feel the water taking away the pain and supporting it, beginning the process that I would have to keep up until it healed completely.

When I was done, I examined it again, smiling a little when I saw that it was already working. I bended the remaining water that wet the material back into the canteen and put the cap back on before putting it to one side before sliding my arm back into the sling after slipping the thing back over my head.

When I was finished, I remembered that my hair was down. Time to change that.

I reached around the back of my head, but then remembered that I wouldn't be able to do it one handed. It was easy enough to take out but I couldn't put it back up again. I frowned in displeasure, before letting go of my hair.

Well this was great. Now I get to have my hair down the whole time for the next week or so. Damnit.

With an aggravated grumble I wrapped the cloak around me and lay down, my head resting on the grassy floor, missing my sleeping bag. It seemed like Zuko had gone back to moody and difficult in the short space of about two minutes. He was now ignoring me and I was doing the same to him. And Sokka had once had the nerve to tell me that _I _had mood swings.

I couldn't keep my thoughts in check though, and they were rushing through my head like bolts of lightning.

Thoughts like how could I have been so stupid to go off and waterbend with Aang on _that_ night. Thoughts on how I could have avoided this mess I had gotten myself into. Thoughts on how Zuko just had to be there. Thoughts on how he had taken me to be his…captive. And thoughts about what had happened today.

Perhaps I should try and run away. He was severely underestimating me if he thought I didn't know how to survive, I probably actually knew more than he did. I wasn't the one who was born with a jewel-encrusted spoon in my mouth.

I had lived in a village where survival had been a day-to-day struggle, and him? He had been born in a palace, and had grown up to become _this. _This spoiled rotten prince who had never done anything but cause me more misery and trouble, just like the rest of his accursed Nation! Who was he to say that he could just do this to me and say that I had no other choice? I would probably last longer than he would on my own!

I reminded myself that this was a stupid time to get angry, and I relaxed again. If he had realised what I had been feeling, he gave no indication whether or not he had noticed. He was sitting _right_ in front of me.

But then…he had helped me. He had fixed up my arm when, I admit, I just didn't have the strength. And we had worked together in that town; there was no denying that. I also had to admit that he was quite powerful, which, in this case, had been just as well. He had been trying to escape the Fire Nation soldiers as much as I had been. At least I was still alive.

Which in itself presented more questions than I thought it possible to ask. Or answer.

"So…What now?"

OoO

He had been staring at the fire when she had asked that question. And he had been wondering when she would ask it. He had almost been…dreading it, though he should not have expected anything less from her. From the way she acted and…reacted to him, the way she had been so stubborn this whole time, her fierce loyalty to her friends – he knew she was constantly thinking about them, hoping they were okay, he could sense it – to her performance in the town…she was strong, far stronger than he had first thought.

He knew that she could prove to be…difficult, if he didn't answer.

But he didn't want to answer, because if he did, it would be a lie.

He knew that even though he was tired, he would probably still be able to beat her, but for some obscure reason, he felt that he should not do that. He was feeling a lot of things, among them the slight respect that had grown when he had seen how she had helped them escape, although he would never admit that.

But he had lied before; it was one of the easiest things to do in the world. Despite what was going on, this should be no different, so why was it?

'_Probably because of what you're going to do…no, what you **are** doing.' _He frowned, where had that come from?

He looked up at her, and noticed that she was staring at him intently. He studied her for a moment, and noticed that her hair was still down. It looked better like that. He saw something else as well, her eyes weren't flashing with such strong animosity right now. They were softer, looking at him, not glaring at him. He felt a flash of guilt surge through him, before he stubbornly shoved it aside.

"I'm going north."

"North, you mean upriver?" He looked at her evenly, not showing what he was thinking.

'_You mean up north to her doom and probably yours as well.'_

"Yes." It came out as a low growl, although he still kept his face calm.

"Oh. But there's nothing up that way but the Inshii Mountains and…"

"That's where I'm going."

"But, _why?" _He narrowed his eyes at her, what, did she think he was going to explain himself to her? He was her captor! He didn't have to _explain_ anything to this peasant! She was nothing – a means to an end that was all!

"I have my reasons."

"Reasons?" Yes girl, reasons. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "Let me guess, I have to come with you, right?

"You don't have a choice."

"Nice." She said flatly, and he had to stop himself from telling her exactly what she could do with her opinions. "Insho is a Fire Nation City, isn't it?" He almost did a double take, had she heard the conversation in the town after all?

"Actually, Insho's neutral." Why was he telling her this? It was just so irritating; didn't she know anything? "What makes you ask that?"

"Well I don't see where else you'd be going. Insho is the nearest city for miles and miles, and I doubt that you would want to stop at any villages in the mountains – they're all Earth Kingdom." He was relieved…it was just a lucky guess. He had noticed that she had said this with the smallest hint of pride in her voice. Yes, those mountains _were _still Earth Kingdom, because they were one of the few places that Fire Nation soldiers couldn't get to. The coastal regions, however…they were different. He'd have to avoid those. Ironic really. He was going through Earth Kingdom lands to avoid the coast and the Fire Nation. It was also…the fastest way. If Azula was travelling by river…he would have more chance of his 'plan' working if he found a way to catch up with her before she reached the city.

'_Which is probably exactly what she wants.' _He was probably just walking into a trap. But he couldn't just leave his uncle to the fate that he knew his sister would deal out. He was positive now that she had his uncle. If he were to leave, that would be…abandoning. He couldn't do that. And he was sure that she knew it.

How clever of her to close all of his options like that, make him come to her.

But he had…the girl. The Avatar's friend. Maybe even his girlfriend, who knew?

"I thought that almost all of the West Coast of this area was under Fire Nation control." Her voice now carried a certain accusative tone, one that annoyed him.

"_Almost_, is the key word there."

"Oh." Oh please let that be the end of this 'conversation'– it was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. "How long will it take to, um, get there?"

"About two weeks. It'll also be easier now we have the horse." Was there no end to her questions? She couldn't just give it a rest and leave him alone, could she? He wondered if she was always like this.

"When do we…er…leave?" He looked at her, confused now. Had she accepted - finally - that she would have to go with him?

"Tomorrow"

"Of course."

Well, he guessed that she would see no reason for her to stay. It was just common sense on her part.

She would be leaving this place where the likelihood of her survival was slim, and would be going to a place where that chance was even slimmer.

He told himself that he couldn't feel guilty about this. He had told her how she didn't have a choice, well, neither did he.

"You should get some rest."

"This coming from you?" He blinked upon realising that he really did feel tired. His eyes were sore, and he guessed that he should take his own advice. After she fell asleep first, of course.

He watched her until she finally rolled over onto her side, her eyes closing shut.

He had told himself that he could not let his conscience or sense of right and wrong get in the way of this…because, for him, that barrier had long been broken. He kept telling himself this, but her words kept coming back.

'_thank you for saving me…again.' _Her words were his last thoughts, as he fell into a fitful sleep of his own.

OoO

So…Insho. I didn't plan to let him take me that far though.

I would go with him to the mountains, and escape there. It was still Earth Kingdom, perhaps they would help me.

I couldn't escape in the middle of nowhere, though, perhaps near the next village.

In the end, we had made our camp and I had only been three hours of sleep before we had to set off again. It had apparently already been nearing dawn when we got enough distance between the town and ourselves to stop. But the memory of our (conversation?) was still bugging me.

I wasn't really satisfied with what he told me. Okay, so he had told me where he was going and where he intended to take me, but he hadn't told me why. I doubted if he was going to tell me either.

He was hiding something from me, and maybe if I was careful enough between now and however long it would take to get away from him, I would find out what that something was. It was my duty to protect the avatar, if I could find out his enemy's newest plan in the process of escaping, well, then, I would.

My arm felt a lot better now, and I hadn't expected the healing process to start off so well. I could sleep now without it troubling me so much, which was good. Maybe it would heal faster than I thought.

The mountains, from what I had seen while passing over them on Appa, were covered in forest, and some of them had peaks went up higher then the clouds, and I knew that the mountain range stretched away from the sea. If we were going to go the way I thought we were going, following the river and valleys in the mountains, then we would be spending a lot more time in the forests. Either Zuko really liked trees (unlikely) or he was using them as a cover (far more likely). That was good, I suppose, as it would mean that we would be able to slip through pretty much unnoticed. On the other hand, though, it was not so good, as it would make it harder for me to look out for and find Aang and Sokka.

I walked this time, on one side of the horse as Zuko walked in front of me on the other side leading it along, its reigns held securely in his enclosed fist. I had been adamant about not riding it the whole time, and Zuko hadn't been able to force me onto it (I wont say how…lets just say it involved lots of _grit_ on my part – and a lot of it. He had almost set me on fire, again, and although he hadn't done anything, I could see it in his eyes – it also involved the use of a few colourful curses, ones that I actually hadn't thought I knew). I knew it was childish of me to act like that, almost trying to make him rise to the bait, but then again, he deserved it. Although I had expected him to put up much more of a fight, really. We seemed to have both gotten over last night, at least now we were acting like complete enemies again – which we were, but that weird 'self-control' thing he was putting on was really starting to get to me. Either that or he enjoyed acting coldly.

So we had kind of done a walking for one hour, riding for two kind of thing. Score one for me, I guess, even though I had never felt so sore all over before in my life.

The way he acted, it as though he was on a time limit.

My actions had consequences though, and he had fallen into his black mood again. It must be his way of getting back at me – making my life difficult.

I munched some bread as we walked, as he had been so determined to leave early again, not pausing for anything except to strap his pack to the horse. Which was something interesting in itself because we didn't have a saddle or saddle bags. He had had to make do with rope and blankets so that the ropes wouldn't hurt the horse.

I looked down at the bread; at least I had gotten something to eat. I had realized just how _starving _I was by now; I hadn't eaten for…actually when was the last time I ate? I took another bite quickly, swallowing it down, but a lump had still formed in my throat.

Two and a half days. I hesitated, staring straight ahead at what I could see along the horizon.

I could see the mountains, and although they were now far above over my head and I couldn't see the tops, I knew what they were like from flying over them - like a grey-capped wall that separated the coast from the mainland as they gradually turned towards the east, although we were only cutting across them. So far we had done about a days worth of real travelling. Funny, how I had taken for granted the time we saved travelling whilst travelling on Appa, it had taken us three days of non-stop flying to cross the entire mountain range and about twenty minutes to get from the edge to the coast. It had taken a day to travel three quarters of those twenty minutes of flying, and we had been going pretty quickly. Wow. I really understood now what Aang had once meant when he had wondered how people got anywhere without a Flying Bison.

I finished my bit of bread quickly, before hurrying to catch up with Zuko.

My hand rested on the horse's neck, and I allowed myself a small smile. This creature had been quite brave, helping us to escape as well as putting up with Zuko. It deserved a name…but I wasn't sure what name would suit.

Maybe I would be able to pass some time easier if I focus on that.

"This horse needs a name. What do you want to call it?" Oh no. Did I just…ask Zuko? I didn't know what made me do it…I am definitely going crazy. This wasn't good, three days and I was already going crazy. Three days too long. I put my hand on the horse's neck, patting it gently. What will happen next I wonder?

"Couldn't care less, call it whatever you want." Ouch. That tone was nasty.

"Arrogant…" I muttered under my breath, but he still heard.

"Finish that sentence and I'll gag you." I wondered if it was going to be like this the whole time, if he was hot and angry one day and then so terribly cold or confusing another. I had thought something was bugging him, but now I wondered if it really was just me, my fault entirely. Though I probably wasn't acting that much better.

I sighed. Maybe I should go easier on him, antagonising him sure wasn't helping any. What was I hoping to gain from it anyway?

It was either hate him and bitch at him and try to fight him at any given moment, wasting both our energy, or hate him but don't act up, instead just attempting to control my temper, keeping my eyes and ears open for any given moment to escape.

OoO

He just hadn't felt like continuing their fight, and he was, truth be told, actually getting sick of it. But his pride demanded that he keep it up and not cave in to her, it just wasn't like him to do anything like _that._

Just imagining giving in to someone like her…an insignificant little Southern Watertribe peasant…

The thing was though, that she was not insignificant. Not now. He reminded himself of that every so often, every time he felt like killing her or leaving her or on her own or anything like that. He could not just get rid of her. That was why he hadn't bothered earlier. He had let her think what she liked. He had compensated for it anyway.

But some small part of him felt guilty about treating her like this, and his conscience was not leaving him alone. Just like when he reminded himself that he could not risk getting rid of her, no matter how annoying she got, he could not lash out.

He had to control himself…for his uncle.

He just could not lose his uncle.

"If we ride the horse now, we'll come to an area where the land starts to slope up, and we'll come back to the trees again. We'll be at the base of the mountains in about two hours." He made sure his tone held no room for discussion, or more importantly, argument.

To his surprise she nodded once. They stopped and Katara scrambled back up on the horse, and he took his place back up behind her. This horse had had a rest, and now it was time to pick up the pace a little. He urged it into a fast trot, and they took off, and the silence grew again.

It took a little over two hours, but they got there. He felt strange, like these mountains didn't like him being here, even as he looked up and saw them towering above him through the trees. That, however, only seemed to make them seem all the more disconcerting. He was not sure if Katara felt the same, but it felt like they had been telling him to go back.

But that was something that he could not do.

OoO

**A/N: So, was it good? Ok? Bad? I wasn't so sure about writing this chapter...But like always, I hope you enjoyed it. Please, reviews are really appreciated Thanks again!**

**Velori.**


	9. Misdirection

**Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to me, it belongs to its ingenious creators and anyone else who happens to be lucky enough to own rights to it. I own nothing but this storyline. I'm just borrowing their characters.**

Chapter 8: Misdirection

It was raining. Heavily.

Huge raindrops that had been nothing but drizzle at first, but had grown in both size and strength as more and more time went by. Zuko had been wary when the clouds had formed, his pessimistic way of thinking leaving him expecting something like this to happen. It was almost too predictable for him – for of course something like this had to happen. But that was not the worst of it. One would have thought that the rain would manage to cool them down a bit, the heat having returned with a vengeance today, but no, the rain only made it hot and wet, which meant it was humid. Hot weather Zuko could handle, after all, the Fire Nation was one of the hottest places in the world, but back at his home, it was a dry hot, not a wet hot.

It seemed to that even the weather had decided to turn against him. He thought about this bitterly for a second, even as the raindrops that managed to get through the overhead leafy barrier to trickle down his hat onto the back of his neck, then running down further to soak his shirt. As if getting his exposed skin wet was not enough, the rain then had to go and soak almost every inch of him as well. He considered evaporating it, but if he were to remain dry, he would have to do that constantly, which would in turn only waste valuable energy.

They would have to find shelter soon though; for he remembered the last time he experienced something like this. It had become a storm quickly, and judging by the way that the rain had come so quickly, this time would be no different.

Another problem was the fact that the rain still managed to seep into the ground, turning it into a wet mud. The going got harder and harder as they travelled upwards through the forest, and was fast becoming almost impossible, as they were about to find out, much to Zuko's dismay.

"I don't believe this!" He felt her jump slightly from the unexpected statement, before she turned to look at him. He had been quiet for a long time, choosing to say nothing, because nothing needed to be said, until now.

"What's wrong?" He gave out a low growl of impatience.

"Look up." She craned her neck upwards, and a small 'oh' escaped past her lips, before she added:

"Good luck with that." He growled again. That was possibly one of the most unhelpful things that she could have possibly said, but then again, it was unlikely that she was going to offer any help at all anyway. Not that he cared; he did not need, nor want for that matter, _her_ help.

It looked like the rain had caused a flood, turning the ground into a mud that they had no hope of travelling on. A testament to just how much the world liked to annoy Zuko. It would be impossible to go this way; they would have to go around it. Up the other way, which was longer, and was an area that just had to be made up of rocky and unstable ground. How they would get the horse to go up that way he had no idea. Another complication.

"You can't be serious." He turned and glared at her, he had had just about enough of her cheek.

"I'm dead serious, _peasant." _Her smirked inwardly as he saw her face contort with anger, but kept up his own glare.

"But…"

"Problem?" When she did not answer, he spun around and stormed off, snatching up the horse's reins again. He could tell she was angry with him, but he didn't care about that. Her blue eyes were cold under her hood, although she did not exactly look much of a threat: Her soaking wet hair was plastered to her neck and cheeks, and she was literally covered in mud and grime from head to toe. He probably did not look that much better, he realized, but at this moment in time he had bigger things to worry about. Like how to get up this damn…slope.

As the ground became more and more unsteady, the horse began to make its own complaints as it struggled to gain it's footing, until it refused to go any further. No matter how much Zuko pulled on the reins, it would not move. He then moved to its side and tried to push it, trying to encourage it to go forwards that way, but this approach had about as much going for him as his first attempt to try and get it to move. Anger poured off the firebender in waves, his already short temper now reaching its limit. His hand ignited, if that was not going to work…

"Come on Horse." He blinked a couple of times and turned to look at the girl.

"Take the pack off it, it's finding it hard enough to climb already." What the…? "Zuko, take it off, because I can't." He blinked again, before untying the ropes and taking the pack off, stuffing the blankets back into the pack and pulling it onto his back. He looked at her again, his eyes slightly distrustful but at the same time wondering at her behaviour. He humoured her, because he wanted to find out where she was going with this.

"What are you doing?" She ignored him.

She was gesturing with her free hand and was talking to the animal in a calming tone, egging it on. To his amazement, the stupid creature actually started to move towards Katara. She slowly started to move up the slope, walking backwards. He shook his head before adjusting the strap on the pack and making as if to start following her. The horse hesitated a little, but it saw him coming and the girl moving away and quickly made up its mind. Zuko smirked slightly; at least the horse seemed to know what was good for it.

It was at a painfully slow pace, but he had to admit that her 'idea' was working. He had not incinerated the creature yet, and it was going with them. It had to stop every so often though, its hooves slipping slightly on the loose ground. Every time that happened, Zuko became impatient, but before he could act on it, she always seemed to manage to get the animal moving again.

They were careful to avoid areas that looked too treacherous, though how they managed with the rain bearing down on them like this bordered on desperation. They would have to stop soon and find shelter, before the rain became a full on storm.

Eventually, after what _really _seemed like forever, they made it to the top of the slope. They came to some sort of platform that was raised up a level above where they stood, and Zuko could not resist looking back. He saw the path they had come up and then noticed a gap in the trees. He saw that, despite how their pace had really slowed down in the last couple of hours or so (although it seemed far longer than that) they had actually covered a good amount of ground in the last two days, he could no longer see the sea past the hills. But then again, he couldn't really see that much through the rain anyway.

They had come to a sheltered area that looked safe enough – a small cave, cut into the rock under the platform. They moved inside this small shelter quickly, just as the storm became worse. Zuko put the pack down on the ground, resting next to the wall and then took the horse's reigns and tied it down. It shied away from him though, and he shook his head. Katara then came up and stood near it, placing a small hand on its neck, and it immediately calmed down, although it still looked at him warily as he stalked off, irritated.

The rain outside their little cave was still as heavy as ever, lightning now accompanying it, occasionally flashing across the sky. He had been right about his hunch after all, then. He decided that the world must really hate him, for these things to keep happening to him, this meant that they would only be wasting more time. It was a relief, on the other hand, to finally get out of the rain. He couldn't deny that. He evaporated the water instantly, and it surrounded him in a whorl of steam for a moment before he swiped it away, relieved that he was now dry. He looked up and he watched the rain for a few seconds more before switching his attention back to her.

She looked restless, as if something had really started to trouble her. She looked as though she had something to tell him, but didn't want to at the same time. He immediately became suspicious of her, unsure of what to make of her behaviour right now. Even though he told himself that he didn't care, he was curious.

He was aware of every movement that she was making, and so he readied himself when she looked like she was going to ask one of her annoying questions. He was almost getting used to them. Almost.

"I sensed water nearby earlier." Okay, so it wasn't a question. It was still pointless though.

"Yeah, well that's pretty obvious." He glared at her again, hoping that she would shut up.

"Not the rain, I mean a stream or a river is close."

"And you would know this how?"

"I'm a waterbender. I just know."

"So?"

"So, I…" She hesitated for a moment, giving him a quick glance. She seemed to be trying to choose her words carefully, for all the good it would do her. "I need to refill my canteen and…" Oh, so that was it.

"And why would I let you do that?"

"Can you not interrupt me for five seconds?"

"No." He wanted this to end, because the more he talked to her, the thinner his patience got.

"Fine." A few more seconds.

"There's no point anyway."

"I meant when it stopped raining, obviously."

"Could have fooled me." So much for letting it end. Now he knew he was just getting on her nerves. He watched as she calmed herself down, taking a few moments to take a few breaths. He was, to be honest, actually watching her with a small amount of amusement.

Another flash of lightning outside, and then a few seconds it was followed by heavy rolling thunder. This wasn't good, and knowing his luck, they would be here for a while.

Some small part of him was telling him that he had no right to treat the girl this way. It said that she was probably going through exactly the same thing as he was at the moment, not to mention that it was his fault that she was here in the first place. She was probably as irritable and tired as he was, maybe more so because of her injury. He was just being childish and stubborn. But then again so was she, so, on second thoughts, he didn't really care about that.

"Look, this doesn't solve anything. If I give you my word that I wont use the water to try and escape, will you let me go?" He closed his eyes for a moment, resisting the urge to shout at her.

"No. I suggest that you just sit down and shut up, now." If she really needed to refill it, she could do it when they moved on. He sat down himself, signalling that this was over. He took some food out of his pack, and after a moment of wondering whether he should or not, held some of it out to her. She looked away, and didn't accept it. Her downright refusal didn't surprise him, so he just put it back.

He stared at her for a few seconds.

She should have been, no, should be thankful that he was even offering her the food. Maybe he should just let her starve, that way at least she would be less likely to have the strength to keep fighting him and so maybe, just maybe, she would stop.

Maybe the damn horse was going to get more than she was at this rate.

Stupid Southern peasant.

He was going to stop thinking about her now. He had more important things to think about anyway; so why he was troubling himself over her he had no idea. How they wouldn't be able to stay here for long was one of them.

His mind was in turmoil about this. He continued to tell himself again and again that he needed to keep going no matter what, whereas his body was protesting and his common sense was screaming at him to stop. But above all, what he needed was more _time, _for that was something that he was quickly running out of.

He realized that if he was to even have a chance of reaching the city, or even picking up his sister's trail, rests like these would have to be minimal. They would only be able to take a few hours break at each time, and travel fast to make up for the lost time. Oh well…He was a light sleeper anyway.

If he did _not_ make it in time, however…he didn't want to think about the consequences of that happening. He just had to get there. He had done the impossible before, hadn't he?

But as much as he would like to believe that he could, the darker part of his mind knew that what he was doing was just that. Impossible. Hopeless even. Azula was his sister: she was cold, calculating and ruthless. She was everything he wasn't, the prodigy. And she wasn't stupid. She was anything but.

He briefly wondered why she was even taking this particular route to the city. Why she was even going to the city. He was confused by her actions, for surely, it would have been easier for her to go along the coast? Faster, also. A small voice in the back of his mind knew exactly why though. She thought that she was leading him into a trap; of course she would want him to follow her, it was all probably part of whatever plan her sadistic little mind had thought up. He grimaced slightly at the thought. Yes, if he were asked to describe his sister, _sadistic_ would be one of the words that he would come up with. Actually, he could come up with quite a few words to describe her.

If he just walked in and tried to take his uncle back, he knew that he would fail. Of that there was no doubt.

And that was where the waterbender came in.

And that was why is conscience was not leaving him alone. Why was he so conflicted about this? He shouldn't even care! She was just a stupid peasant, period. He almost sighed in aggravation, and resisted the urge to rest his head into his hands. Why was it that everything he did have to always be so _wrong_? It was like he was cursed. But then his stupid sense of right and wrong had gotten him into all of this in the first place.

Not for the first time he wished his uncle was here.

She had her back turned to him, which was just as well. He didn't want to be interrupted from his thoughts; perhaps it would be better if she would just go to sleep again. It was better than having to endure talking to her. He knew that she didn't trust him when she was asleep, and frankly, he knew that she had every right to be distrustful of him. After all, he trusted her even less, as she had been nothing but a thorn in his side ever since he had first seen her. He longed to just be able to go off and be alone to think things through, but he couldn't leave her here. She had been getting stronger with that healing power thing she did, even though she was still affected by exhaustion, and he wasn't sure if she would try to escape or not. He was unwilling to give her even the slightest chance either; he knew that if he did, she would find a way, somehow. She always did, whether she was with the avatar and her idiot brother or on her own, she was resilient, and determined. She was probably planning something right now.

She had also stopped moving, and was lying down so he had to wonder if she had fallen asleep after all. He got up and walked over to her, looking her over her shoulder. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was peaceful. She stirred slightly, and he suddenly found himself unwilling to disturb her, even though he had his suspicions that she wasn't asleep at all.

He went back to where he had been sitting before, and stared moodily at the floor. He would have to get some rest himself, eventually, but he also had to make sure that she wasn't going to try anything.

This was going to be a wonderful few hours.

OoO

I wasn't asleep, and I had no intention of going to sleep either. It wasn't that I wasn't tired, but I didn't want to go to sleep. I didn't want to sleep knowing that he was taking me closer and closer to…_it_. Although I still didn't know what _it_ was that he was taking me to.

I had to get away from him: I just had to. Because I didn't think I would be able to take it for much longer – the guy was driving me insane! I had tried to be civil, I really had, but he was just so insufferable I felt that if I spent any more time with him I would either scream with frustration or explode. Either way what he was surely driving me towards wouldn't be pretty.

Even if I only got ten minutes of being away from him, ten minutes! Is that too much to ask for? Obviously the answer is yes. He hadn't been so uptight about it before, he had even left for a little while back then, so why was he now acting so different? Well not different realy, he was still the same arrogant and rude prince that he had always been, if not more so. But he was still confusing me. He _knew _I had nowhere else to go at the moment, and I had long resigned myself to the fact that Aang and Sokka weren't just going to swoop out of the sky and fly me away. Far, far away

Ahh…this was just horrible. It had to make the top of the list for bad situations for me. Sure, I had gotten into a few scrapes before, but this was just…ahh. I had thought that he had been becoming at least a little less insulting and pig-headed yesterday, but obviously, I had been proven wrong.

I had managed to bend as much water as I could out of my hair and clothes, but they were still slightly damp. I didn't catch colds easily – well, I had lived most of my life in the South Pole - and I hoped to keep to that fact. That didn't mean I couldn't still be affected though; it was still quite possible. Too bad I couldn't blame him for making it rain, his mood was certainly black enough.

Another bolt of lightning outside, and I counted the seconds.

'_One, two, three, four, five …' _the thunder followed just before the six. I had no idea how long this would last, but I hoped it would end soon. I had sensed this coming earlier, but hadn't said anything, partly because I knew what kind of reaction I would get, and partly because I just didn't want to – I mean it was _Zuko_. Perhaps I should have done, as I thought more about it, as we may have been able to find shelter earlier if I had said something. Or maybe not, because Zuko would probably think I was lying or something stupid like that.

I had to get away from him, even if it wasn't to escape, even if it was only temporary, I wasn't going to stay here – the fact that he had ordered me to do that only strengthened my resolve. Oh, make no mistake, first chance I get, I will be out of here before he can blink. For now, however, I'll have to sit tight and wait.

'_One, two, three, four, five, six…' _The lightning was getting farther away then. That was good. I remembered something Aang once told me about lightning: You count the seconds before the thunder and it tells you how far away it is. I wondered how far they were away at the moment, and if they were in the same storm. If they were, I hoped that they had found shelter.

'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…' The thunder was still loud, but it was definitely getting further away. 

I wasn't sure of exactly how long I was sitting there; I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I hadn't noticed the time go by. The thunder and lightning had now stopped, and the rain was lessening; now it was just drizzle again. I was both relieved, and annoyed. Relieved, because the storm was ending, annoyed, because that meant that I would have to travel further with Zuko.

I got up, ever so quietly, and received a shock that left me blinking and standing for a few moments. Was he? No, it couldn't be…He was asleep! He was! Hah! I guess even the great Prince Zuko can't hold it off forever! By the spirits, he must have been _exhausted. _I realized that the thunder must have been one of the things keeping him from falling asleep, that was why I had sensed him stir every so often behind me. I could tell he wouldn't have wanted to willingly.

I backed towards the opposite wall of the cave, and couldn't help but stare. I had never seen him look so calm, and it made him look…almost…

I had never seen him without a scowl, a murderous expression, or a cold mask. I wondered, for a moment, if he really was like that all the time, what he was like when he was…wait. What am I doing? Wondering about his personality! Oh come on! I cursed him again, before I cursed myself. It was my own damned fault I had gotten myself into this, and it was up to me to get myself back out. Part of me wanted to find out what exactly it was he was up to, but at the same time I dreaded what I would find. Whatever it was – it couldn't be good. Why else would he be taking me with him if it didn't have something to do with Aang or me? I had told myself that I wouldn't let myself become dragged into what he was planning earlier, but it seemed I had done the exact opposite of that.

Firebenders don't have any personality other than brutal and cruel, remember that Katara. He is the enemy – you don't wonder about the enemy.

Or do you? I had sounded exactly like Sokka then. Yes, that would have been something he would have said. I held back a sigh, wondering for a brief moment like I had done constantly ever since our separation, if they were alive and all right and out there, somewhere. I turned my head to look at him.

Then I blinked.

If he was asleep, this was the perfect chance to…escape? Could I do that now?

No, not yet, even if I did, I would only end up lost, or worse.

But I could go to that stream.

I snuck past him, careful not to make a sound.

I got outside, without any hassle. That was odd…wouldn't he have woken up at the slightest sound? I had been as quiet as I could but…

Well, he could sleep, I didn't mind. It was a good thing he hadn't woken up. I smiled; perhaps something good was coming out of this after all.

I winced as I felt my foot sink slightly in the mud, a small squelch sound making me jump slightly out of surprise. Without a second's hesitation, I took of my Water Tribe boots, my bare feet now in the mud. Bare feet would make less noise than seal hide. I scrunched up my nose when my feet made contact with the mud, oh but, it was _cold._

I hurried up, following my senses. I could tell that the water was close, I could feel the pull of it, like the pull that wakes you up in the morning. It was just natural.

There were ferns amongst the trees, large ones to. Occasionally, the leaves brushed up and tickled my bare skin, almost making me sneeze. I held said sneezes back though, as I still felt like I needed to keep absolutely quiet. The drizzle had left a mist, and dew and raindrops were trapped on anything and everything, myself included. But I didn't mind that, it was better than the thorough soaking I had received before, and it was even quite nice, really.

I wasn't cold now, it was still warm out, and now I was relatively dry, I didn't feel cold at all.

I came to it, and I was right. It was a small stream, but to me it was beautiful. It was enough to lift my spirits, and for that I was thankful. You would have thought that the storm would have washed mud into it, but for some reason or another, the water had remained clean. I looked up again and noticed why. Large rocks and gravel protected the stream, and the area was well sheltered by a thick leafy covering. I smiled again, before walking slowly towards it. I quickly drew out some of the water, filling my empty canteen. I then washed my feet with another water snake, unwilling to let the mud wash off in the stream. I also washed my face and arms, splashing the cool water onto my skin, and god, did that feel good. I then sat down on one of the rocks, letting my now clean feet dangle in the water while I repeated the healing process again. My arm was feeling much better than it had been, and hopefully, it would heal soon. Each time I repeated the process, I felt the pain go away, the dull throbbing lessening with each time. The healing also had an added bonus: it kept the material that made up my bandages clean, although, if I were to keep this up, I would need new ones soon. They should have technically already been replaced, but circumstances being as they were, that was impossible.

I sat there for a few more minutes, slowly moving my feet around in circles and watching the rippling effect that had on the water, getting lost in my own little daydream. It was nice to be able to do that, and I gave a wry smile at the thought. I shouldn't do it though; this wasn't the time to get lost within the confines of my mind. I had to stay alert, because of him. I would have to go back soon as well. I didn't want to have Zuko interrogating me and then closing off any other opportunities for me to do something like this again. If he found out…

Although, I had to admit that this felt good.

I snapped my head up and stared at the way that I had come to get here. I shivered slightly, and a weird feeling that I was being watched caused me to become uneasy. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and goose pimples covered my skin; I shivered again.

Maybe I had stayed here too long.

I got up slowly, taking my feet out of the water, and stood up on the rock, trying to get a better view of my surroundings. My eyes skimmed over the area, but I didn't see anything. I had probably just imagined it. Shaking my head, I got down again and took a drink from my canteen, before refilling it again. I put the cap on it, making sure it was secure, before bending down to put on my shoes and moving away.

I cast one more reluctant look back at the stream, before pushing aside a tree branch and leaving the area.

I walked on slowly, but I didn't go back the way I had come. I went more around this time, trying to pick out a path that wasn't so wet and muddy as the one I had chosen before.

I pushed aside another branch, and instantly froze at what I saw.

I didn't know as much about tracking as Sokka. But it was obvious what these were.

Tracks.

Human footprints in the mud.

And they didn't belong to firebenders. They didn't have the ridges that was made by metal heels, or the pointed toe imprint that was typically firebender style. No, whoever made these were no firebenders. And they were fresh, having been made recently.

There were two sets, and one was small, like a child's.

Aang?

There were no traces of a flying bison, was it even possible?

I looked up, but no shadow passed over me. I felt like crying, but didn't. I had to be strong at the moment, no matter the situation. I had to keep going right now, who knows what would happen if I didn't. I was resentful of that fact though, because it was _his_ entire fault. I was willing to bet that he had planned this entire thing; he couldn't have found me just out of mere coincidence.

I had to escape. Now.

Footprints meant people. Even though they may not be Aang's or Sokka's, they didn't belong to firebenders either. This was one break that I wasn't going to pass up. Not a chance.

I stiffened as I felt something dark pass over me, before the message hit my brain and I screamed out.

"AANG!" Something tackled me from behind, and my scream was cut off as I slammed onto the ground, a heavy weight keeping me from leaping back up again. His hand quickly covered my mouth, and I was so shocked that I couldn't clamp down on it straight away, and he used this opportunity to stop me from doing something like that, having learnt something from last time. He lifted me up by the collar, his hands uncomfortably hot, shoving me forwards and down again, ducking under cover and out of sight.

No, this wasn't fair! Aang, please, you had to have heard me, please, you must have!

I struggled, twisting and thrashing wildly under his grip while he snarled in anger, and was forced to push me down further until my nose was almost touching the ground as he had to double his efforts to try and keep his grip on me.

"Let me go!" No! I won't give in to you! Not now! Never!

His only answer was to tighten his hold on me further. That was it. I lashed out, my arm somehow gotten free and I drew out all of the water from the canteen, sending it at him so quickly that he was forced back and off me. I sprang back up, ignoring my arm in all of my fear and anger and bolted.

I sped past him, not caring where I was going as long as it was away, away_, away _from him. I should have screamed out again, but I didn't. My mind had cleared of anything except the knowledge that I had to keep going. Tree branches that I had avoided before tugged at my loose hair, like sharp, reaching fingers, and stray roots threatened to trip me up, but I didn't slow. If anything, I went faster, even as my skin on my arms, neck and face became marked with small cuts and bruises.

I wasn't sure where he was. If he was behind me, I wasn't going to look back.

I skidded around trees, slipping but staying up, keeping up my pace while I panted heavily. All I heard was the roaring sound of my own blood in my ears, and I kept my eyes trained on what was straight ahead of me.

I was going too fast, that I didn't notice when I turned a corner and tripped, as a stray root snaked around and grabbed my foot, forcing me to fall down back to the ground.

I landed on my knees and fell sideways, and I found that…I couldn't get up again. My breath came out in shuddering gasps, and my hair had fallen past my face. My cheek was resting against the ground and I lay there for a few seconds, not caring about what I was doing. I couldn't move.

They had gone. They hadn't heard me.

They hadn't _heard me._

I was trembling, violently, and I dimly noticed all the small cuts and scratches that I had received. I slowly lifted myself up until I was in a hunched-over sitting position, and looked up. I felt a bit winded, and my heart was hammering in my chest, like it was trying to force its way out of my ribcage, pounding against it in its own bid for freedom.

I didn't know where Zuko was. I didn't want to know.

Too bad that not many truly get what they want.

He burst out from behind the bushes, and he immediately slowed down when he saw me kneeling like this, hunched over and hurting. He approached me warily, and I shot a glare at him, determined to fight, even though on inside I struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to fall down over my cheeks.

"Don't come near me!" My voice was raspy, and even to me it sounded weak. He didn't answer, but neither did he come any closer. His eyes were cold again, so cold, and I closed my eyes, drawing my knees up from under me, and hugging them close to my chest.

"You tried to escape."

"You really expected me not to try? Did you really think I would give up to _you?"_ I spat out the last word with so much spite that I surprised even myself. His eyes widened slightly, before they became steely again.

"How dare you." An accusation, his voice infuriatingly low and quiet. How dare I?

"How dare _you_." I mimicked his words, my voice shaking slightly from a mixture of anger and exertion.

"I told you not to go."

"Yeah, but I did."

"I told you not to."

"Leave me alone."

"No."

"WHY? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!" I suddenly screamed at him, feeling my frustrations quickly rising to the surface, threatening to make me lose control. He remained silent, and I buried my face in my hand. "Please, let me go! I didn't do anything to you!"

Silence.

"WHAT POSSIBLE REASON COULD YOU HAVE? YOU KNOW THAT I'LL NEVER BETRAY AANG! I'M NO USE TO YOU!"

I screamed again, and he watched me. I clenched my fist so tightly that my nails cut into my skin, drawing blood to add to that that was already slowly seeping from my growing collection of scrape and cuts. It would be better if he was at least showing some emotion, but it was that same emotionless mask that I had come to hate. He was cutting himself off, ignoring my pleas, and it scared me that someone could do that so easily.

He stared at me for what seemed like an age. My breathing was harsh, and I was trembling, but I refused to give up.

"Attempt something like this again, and I will not be so merciful. Now get up." He turned away, and I stared at him, mud stained, miserable and _angry._

Oh, I'll get up all right.

I launched myself at him, but he avoided me. I spun round, and drew out the water again single-handed. He frowned, before saying quietly:

"You're in no fit state to fight me. Give. Up."

I sent a whip at him faster than he could blink, but he just barely managed to evaporate it. I bared my teeth at him in frustration before repeating my actions. He avoided it, and I quickly drew the whip back so that he wouldn't be able to evaporate this one as well. I made it circle me, but it was harder to keep control of it with just one hand. Not that I couldn't, I just needed to focus more, so it took more energy out of me. I knew that even though I might be able to keep this up for a little while, by no means could I keep it up forever. And my available water was quickly running out again.

Suddenly he lunged at me, grabbing my arm and twisting it behind my back and I cried out, more from my anger than any pain he was causing.

"Let go of me you heartless bastard!"

"You haven't seen heartless, girl!" He snarled in my ear "And I'm not going to play games. _Give up!_"

I tried to stamp on his foot as my answer. I twisted away from him, trying to kick him. In order to avoid my kick he had to let go of my arm and I fell back.

"Leave me alone!"

"Who do you think you are?" I stared at him for a moment; I hadn't expected a question like that.

"I'm the girl who's never going to give up to you and let you hurt my friends that's who! I'm not sure what you're planning, but if you dare hurt them…"

"You'll do what?" I clenched my fist, biting my lip.

"They'll find me, and we'll defeat you again."

"Can't you fight your own battles? Do you need them to protect you?"

"At least I have friends who would care enough about me to do something like that!" I could have sworn that he flinched slightly at that. But it might have been just my imagination, I was so angry. "And I'll always help Aang when it comes to monsters like you!"

"Ah yes, Aang, the almighty Avatar, destined to save the world. The twelve year old child." A sharp intake of breath from me, and he continued. "Your brother, the idiot playing soldier. And you. The waterbender. Without a hope or a clue."

I had had enough. My arm shot up, but he caught it, just as it was centimetres away from his cheek. He scowled at me, and I yanked my arm away, suddenly fearful.

I started to run again but he quickly launched himself at me and I was wrestled back down to the ground. He wasted no time in grabbing my wrist and slamming it down so that he had my arm pinned, one hand keeping it down while he was on top of me, his knee pressing into my stomach, preventing me from moving at all.

"Get off me!" He pressed his knee down harder and I grit my teeth, forced to swallow my words.

"What exactly do you think you're doing! There's nothing that you can do, it's pointless for you to resist, so why won't you just give up!" His voice wasn't so controlled anymore, taking on a tone that had an edge as sharp as daggers to it.

"Like I would ever give up to you!"

His knee was digging into my stomach, bordering on painful. I groaned slightly, and bit my lip again, closing my eyes. His face was inches away from mine, and his eyes…they were so angry and fierce…

Like twin orbs of fire, blazing and burning.

"How could you possibly think for one minute that I wouldn't even try?" My voice was quiet again; all the energy that was gained from the adrenaline vanishing almost instantly and it came out from my throat as a small hoarse croak, barely a whisper.

"How could you possibly think that you actually had a chance?"

"Don't answer my question with another question."

"I don't have to answer in the first place."

"Get off me."

"And give you the chance to pull another one of your little escape attempts? Don't make me laugh."

"You wouldn't know how to laugh. You can't keep me pinned forever Zuko."

"I can until I know that you won't try to escape again."

"Forever then."

I felt my own shuddering gasps for air, but his breathing was controlled, he didn't even look tired anymore. Just angry. Really, really angry.

"Get off me."

"No."

"_Get off me!"_

"You're not going to escape again."

"I'm telling you to get off me _now_!" He had me trapped and he knew that I knew it. I could scream and yell and fight the whole time, but he wouldn't have a second's thought about it. I slowly opened and shut my eyes again. I felt as though I had been so close to escaping him, maybe if I hadn't tripped, I would have done. Maybe my brother and Aang had been there, but they probably hadn't.

So I relaxed slightly, letting myself fall limp. The arm that was so tense under his grip relaxed, and I watched him glare at me.

"About time." Oh, I wasn't giving up, I would never, _ever_, do that.

He grabbed me again and pulled me back up without another word.

OoO

Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

How could he have let this happen? _How could he?_

He had known that she would try something; indeed he hadn't even been asleep when she had left the cave. He had been annoyed at her for doing that, but he had thought that she had at least realised that there was nowhere to escape to.

But, who was he kidding? It was his damn conscience that had caused this.

It was the Water Tribe witch. How could he have thought even for a second that any sense of rationality would have crossed her mind?

He had followed the girl, with every intention of bringing her back, even punishing her if that was what had needed to be done.

And now he was glad that he had.

Like before, he hadn't been sure if she had been planning something, but everything had seemed fine when he had found that all she was doing was sitting on some rock. He had felt a surge of guilt when she had done that healing thing, because he had denied her that, even when he had said that she could do it earlier, but that went away almost instantly when she suddenly got up and left.

Her scream had been what caused him to tackle her. He wasn't sure why she had screamed, but hadn't really had the time to wonder about that when he had seen how her body language told him straight out that she had been about to make a run for it.

In his haste, he had forgotten that she still had her canteen.

He held it in one hand, having taken it away from her now. Why was he being so foolish at the moment? He seemed to only be able to mess things up, constantly making stupid mistakes, and this was a time that he couldn't afford to do that! What was wrong with him?

He had dragged her back to the cave by now, and she had moved herself immediately so that she was huddled up against a far corner, as far away from him as possible.

Keh, it was her own fault. Why should he care?

He looked over at her, unsurprised to see her back. What he was surprised to see, though, was that she was shaking, almost violently.

'_Shit'_ had she caught a cold or something – did waterbenders even get colds?

He shook his head and got up, slowly approaching her. She flinched as he got closer, but he paid that no heed, wanting to find out exactly what was wrong with her.

He realized with a jolt that she was…goddamnit.

She was trying desperately to hide from him, but he could tell. She was still fighting, still being so damn determined.

Even though she had huge, fat tears, rolling down her cheeks.

OoO

A/N: So, there was chapter eight and Katara's 'planned' escape attempt. I'm beginning to wonder if I should include 'angst' in the genre.

**Thank you very, very much for all the reviews so far, keep 'em coming! I am very grateful, yes I am.**

**Velori.**


	10. Suprises

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. **

Chapter 9

They hadn't left the cave after what had happened. since the rain had stopped, he had taken the horse outside and tied it near the entrance, so that it could graze if it wanted. He had quickly gone back inside and had watched her quietly as he took his place next to the entrance, warily wondering as to what she would try to do next. Suffice to say, he had been relieved when she had fallen into an exhausted sleep, once she had stopped…

_Crying_.

He had always hated it when girls cried. It reminded him too much of…other times, other places. Not to mention it got on his nerves and made him feel downright uncomfortable, especially if he had been the one to cause it, because he had always immediately found himself unable to _do_ anything to stop it. That was probably the reason why he hadn't said anything and just left her to it. He was still angry with her, but that was nothing new. After all, he had known that he couldn't trust her. He had known she would of tried to escape, it was foolish to expect anything less from her. Of course she would.

So then, why hadn't he stopped her immediately when she had left?

Why had he let her do that?

Why?

Those questions, and the million others that had been plaguing his mind, all added to the disturbing impression that he had a massive weight bearing down on him. Now that she had stopped, he found that all he could do now was think these thoughts, and, now he was regretting it. He knew he shouldn't be doing this sort of thing, thinking these _thoughts _and experiencing these _feelings._ Because it only caused what felt like a constant pressure on the back of his mind, and a hollow pit around his stomach. The irony of it all was not lost on him. He knew what this was, he, contrary to what he always showed on the outside, had felt this before.

It was with reluctance that he had to admit himself what it was.

He was feeling guilt.

Guilt.

For _his _actions.

How many days had it been now? A few. He had what, two weeks to catch up with his _sister_, and more than a third of that time had already gone by. He knew that he was going to be pushing himself, and the girl, to their limits in the not so far off future, probably travelling from the moment the sun rose in the mornings and stopping long after it had disappeared from their sight. And to make matters worse, he knew that this guilty feeling that was tugging at his conscious would not leave him and the knowledge of what he would further have to do certainly would do nothing to lessen it.

All because of her damn tears.

'_Really? Is it really all because of her tears? Or have I been feeling like this for a while now?' _His own question caused him to lean back into the wall. He couldn't answer it the way he wanted to, and he really, really wanted to say yes, that it was all her fault. He wanted to be able to blame her for all of this, but he knew that he couldn't. That was a coward's way out anyway.

He wondered as to when exactly he had become quite so…he was unsure of how to explain himself. Whatever he was inside, it was becoming more and more difficult for him to hide on the outside, the side that was seen by the world. His uncle had always said that conscience and honor was what made a man, for without them, how can a man say that they have anything? He closed his eyes for a second at the thought, and with a barely audible sigh, he turned his head to look at her again.

He had no honor anymore, and his conscience? Seemingly non-existent, but it was still driving him insane.

It was all part of the harsh reminder that he didn't have a choice, and probably not a chance either.

OoO

_She was there again. She didn't know where…but she was **there.**_

_And she was waiting. Waiting for something, something important. She was sure that it came in the form of something happening before she felt it. Suddenly she was falling through darkness, but she didn't scream because she knew that she had screamed enough._

_It was in a brief moment, like a passing image in her mind's eye but she still saw it. It had burned its way into her memory._

_She saw a river, one that she knew was strangely familiar, she knew it, or knew that she should know it, but just couldn't place it. It was just out of her reach at the very back of her mind. However, these thoughts were cast aside when it was what was on the river that she saw what she had needed to see:_

_Three boats._

_A flag._

_And bright red flames._

_Then she was back to watching herself fall. Over and over again._

_She cried out as it started again, screaming the same words: don't fall for it; don't let your guard down you stupid, stupid idiot! She cried out again in dismay as she saw herself let go of the glider. _

_Please, please. Please forgive me Aang…I'm so sorry._

"_I'm trying."_

The scene kept replaying in my head, and I found myself unwilling to wake up just yet, but the first image was still in my head even as I started to feel myself become lost amidst the smoke and screams and yells of my friends. All the while I kept telling myself how stupid I was, how weak and unable to have foreseen what had been bound to have happened.

I was supposed to guard and protect the avatar, but all I had done was sit around as we had walked into a trap. I had done the exact opposite of what I was supposed to do, and now, I was reaping the rewards of my actions.

_The girl was screaming as she fell. I was screaming at the girl, myself._

My eyes snapped open and I sat right up. I could hear my own harsh breathing, which seemed louder than usual, magnified by the silence of the cave. My arm was hurting again, and I clutched it subconsciously, biting my lip so hard that I didn't realize it until I felt the sharp metallic tang of blood in my mouth. I shot a quick glare at the dark silhouette next to the cave entrance, scowling at him through the darkness.

It was all his fault. All of it. Everything.

But more than anything, he…scared me. He…was…stronger…than me.

Sure I was tired, and hungry, I had been for days now, but he had still beaten me.

And I _hated _that.

I hate staying _here _with _him. _I hate not knowing what's going on; when I know that something is _going on. _I hate not knowing anything about Aang or Sokka. I hate how _unfair _this all is.

Looking back now, I found myself shaken at how I really had taken for granted the freedom of traveling with them. We were all together, trying to do our part and often having to avoid our enemies yes, but we were still together. We had each other.

Now…

I didn't have anyone.

I had to make it through this alone.

OoO

The sun rose quickly, and for once in his life he thought, _too quickly._

He slowly stood up, using his hands against the cold, hard ground as leverage. He turned over to her, noticing that she had woken up as well. Unlike him, however, she was making no attempt to get up; instead she was just glaring at him as if she was trying to burn deadly holes into him with her eyes. A truly evil look that, if he had been told of it before he had found her, he would have scoffed and claimed that she wasn't capable of such a thing. But obviously, she was.

He shook his head, before reaching into the pack and taking out a wrapped bundle. He scowled as he noticed that supplies were running low, and with distaste as he saw how stale the bread was.

He looked at her again; almost wincing as he saw how she was crouched in the corner, how she had made herself as small as possible. It was necessary, he told himself, repeating that over and over again to himself. It was necessary.

Walking over to her, ducking slightly because of the low ceiling, he thrust the bread towards her. His expression was grim as she drew up her knees and glared at him again. He gave her a look of his own, which he hoped would get the message across that she would eat without questions, or rather, not saying anything at all. He hoped in vain. She didn't even look at the food in his hand, instead choosing to just turn her head to the side.

He grit his teeth, really not wanting to talk to her, but knowing now that he had to.

"C'mon, you have to eat." No answer. Grimly, he recognised that this was all too familiar behaviour, nonetheless, he reached out with his other hand and placed it under her chin, and then used it to turn her head so that she would face him, trying to ignore how she cringed from his touch. Although if it was out of fear or disgust, he wasn't sure. Probably both. He felt another pang, before thinking that he actually hadn't meant to scare her as badly as he had done. He shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. Of course he had meant it, it was better this way.

Wasn't it?

Snapping his attention back to her, he grimaced slightly when she tried to look away again but he was having none of it. "Eat." He insisted, more firmly this time.

No answer. This was beginning to get on his nerves now.

"Eat, Katara." Both their eyes widened when he said her name, but he quickly masked his own surprise at himself. He hadn't meant to say her name - it just tumbled out. In truth, he was shocked at himself. That was one of the things that he had been trying to stop himself from doing…He would make sure not to say it again.

"W-What did you say?" He narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"I told you to eat." Even though he knew what she had really meant.

"No." He set his jaw. He didn't want to fight with her, but he knew that she had to eat…she hadn't done so since yesterday morning.

"Eat." He put the bread in her hand, before he got up again. His anger was quickly rising up again, but he didn't want to lash out at her, not now. He had been angry with her long enough to make even himself feel uncomfortable, and then he had been angry with himself. Angry at his foolishness, angry at his thoughts, angry at his own shitty _weakness_.

Without another word he covered the evidence of the fire from last night, and retied the pack onto the horse, hoping that these simple tasks would allow him to take a break from punishing thoughts and feelings for at least a little while.

OoO

I looked at the bread, wondering with a sort of strange absent-minded feeling of detachment, if it was all right for me to eat it after all.

Inwardly, I snorted at myself. Since when had I become so melancholy? Wasn't I the one who was always supposed to be the optimist? I glared at the bread, almost as if it were the cause of all of my problems and not some self-righteous, egotistical, arrogant, rude, violent asshole of a firebender…

So, I had to make it through this alone hmm?

I had given this some thought last night after my little _relapse_. I had had enough now of self-pity. I had to make it through this.

I _would_ make it through this. I had said that before, yes, but now I was even more determined to escape.

I bit into the bread savagely, tearing off a piece and slowly chewing, then swallowing, sticking my tongue out at it for being so stale.

What the hell was he trying to pull now?

I had decided, that he absolutely was not going to get away with this. I had been stupid last night.

Finishing the bread, I took the opportunity to look at my arm. Surprisingly, it was feeling a little better, I was sure it would have stung this morning after last night. However, it was aching again. I winced when I saw how filthy the bandages were, there was no avoiding it, they would have to be changed, and soon.

I got up and followed him outside. He didn't spare me a glance, and for some reason that bothered me. What was I hoping? That there would be some off chance that he would even feel slightly guilty for what he had done. Not a chance.

Memories from last night surged foreword and I couldn't help flinching and looking away.

He had looked ready to kill me.

But he didn't. I looked up again, seething as I felt myself tense.

If he thought I was going to give up, he was wrong. Last night was a mistake, but it was a mistake that I will not make again. Ever.

I glanced at him again, before turning away, but something suddenly felt…different. I noticed something _was_ different.

He wasn't looking at me at all. I frowned out of confusion, no, it couldn't be, but he was!

Usually, he didn't hesitate to glare, or scowl at me. Now, he was…I could have sworn that he was trying to do his best to avoid looking at me completely.

He finished what he was doing and started to lead the horse without saying anything.

I followed, knowing that there was nothing else I could do…at the moment.

A few hours later, and little had changed, save for the fact that I was already aching all over and having to focus more and more where I put my feet. I had thought that since the rain had stopped, it would make travelling easier. I was wrong, soon finding out that yesterday's rain only meant mud, mud and more mud.

I had long ago decided that for as long as I would live after all of this was over, I would make a point of staying well away from seemingly endless forests, no matter what.

But there was something else.

I couldn't shake this strange feeling that I was being watched. It had started around halfway through the morning, and was only increasing as time went by. I fidgeted slightly, wondering if Zuko felt it as well.

Although, if he did, he showed no sign of it. Or anything, for that matter. Not that I could see, walking behind him and all.

I renewed my attempts to squash this feeling, feeling slightly stupid. I blushed slightly, and kept walking, focusing once more on trying to keep up with Zuko. I was determined not to show him that I was suffering at all now.

I was not going to repeat the same mistake twice. That had become my mantra, and I made sure that I constantly kept repeating it to myself.

Around midday I felt a stream nearby and had to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying anything out loud. However, I had to stop myself from doing a double-take when we stopped. There was silence for a few seconds, then:

"Can you sense anything?" I blinked, momentarily trying to register what it was he had just said and realizing that he actually said something. After hours of not speaking or hearing his voice, I couldn't help but grit my teeth at how loud and strange it sounded.

"Sense?"

"You said yesterday that you could sense…when water was nearby. Can you sense anything?" I didn't miss the harsh tone with which he finished the question, almost as if he was reluctant or punishing himself by having to speak to me.

Hah. Serves him right.

"There's a stream…that way." It came out colder than I had intended, but I wasn't complaining. However, I felt no need to lie right now, too tired to fight with an angry firebender with an attitude problem at this moment in time.

"Good." I gave him a disbelieving look. '_Really? Doesn't sound like it.'_ Of course he wouldn't now, would he?"How far?" Oh yes, he definitely sounded _reluctant…_

"About five minutes." '_Yes, let the fact that I know this stuff and you don't make you squirm.' _I was focusing on the back of his neck now, still wondering why he seemed so determined not to look at me. I knew that it wouldn't be because of guilt, it never was.

"Wait here." _Excuse _me? Wait…here? What? I was about to reply but the retort died on my lips when I saw that there was no one to speak to. He had already up and left me. What had happened to the whole 'not letting me out of his sight' thing?

Gods how I hated this.

What had I called him before? I wasn't usually one to swear, but right now I felt like cursing with every single word I knew.

The horse nudged me, and I looked to see that it had ambled over to me, and was now looking at me with two very big brown eyes. I could see myself reflected in them, a dirty, and dishevelled looking waterbender with matted hair (inwardly I winced at that, it was still down goddamnit!) and a grumpy expression. The horse nudged me again and I felt my anger start to drain away a little.

I sighed. Now that I came to think about it, I wasn't naturally an angry person. Sure I could get angry, I could get really mad if the situation deserved it, but that didn't necessarily mean that I liked it…

It's not as though I had actually expected that I would have been get away last night anyway. I had lost myself in a moment of panic and desperation, and in a way, I couldn't have expected anything less from Zuko for his reaction. I could blame him for a lot of things, and it was his fault, but…

I was painfully reminded of my brother and friend. Painfully reminded that I still had no idea if they were okay.

Aang and Sokka…They probably hadn't been there at all anyway. I really had been stupid.

Idly I realized that Zuko hadn't even hurt me last night. The scrapes and bruises from last night were caused because I ran. Why didn't he hurt me anyways, he had looked so angry. He could have hurt me, and I could be in worse shape than I am now, but he didn't, and I wasn't.

I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, perhaps it would have been easier for me if he had. I would have been able to blame him for something else that way. It would have meant that I could have another way of hating him.

Even though I didn't like hating anyone in the first place.

I needed to stop thinking about this soon; I was getting a headache.

I started to sit down, but the horse nudged me again.

"What?" It looked at me again. "What do you want, horse?" it snorted, and I suddenly noticed that it still had its pack on. Well of course that would be the reason.

I gave it a wry smile, before gesturing towards the pack.

"You want me to take this off?" It nudged me again. "I'll take that as a yes then." I untied the ropes and took the thing off it. It immediately lowered its head and started to eat, grass stealing its attention as my usefulness to it ended. I rolled my eyes and decided that that must mean that I was allowed to sit down now.

"Wonder what's taking him so long?" My voice suddenly seemed unnaturally loud, and I noticed just how quiet things had seemed to suddenly become.

I came out in Goosebumps and mentally I cringed. I started to feel slightly nervous, noticing how very alone I was…Wait a minute, I was just being stupid again. Although there was that feeling earlier…

The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and I knew that I couldn't just dismiss this as being just a stupid superstitious feeling. You didn't live most of your life in a frozen tundra and then spend months running from the Fire Nation with the Avatar to not know when something was feeling very wrong.

The bushes rustled, and I froze.

"don't make a sound." I yelped and spun around to come face to face with Zuko.

OoO

It hadn't taken too long to find the stream, and he took a moment to look around. Seeing nothing…suspicious…he knelt down by the water. They had been running low on their water supplies, and he had hoped that there had been a stream or river nearby.

He had not been disappointed, he thought ruefully, staring at the clear water for a moment. He had thought that there would a water source close to where they were. They had been going in the general direction of the smaller rivers that cut through the mountains to join the main river. On one of these rivers, he knew that Azula was travelling along. On one of these rivers, was his uncle.

He looked at Katara's canteen again, having taken it from her again, before he refilled that too. Briefly, he had wondered about leaving her on her own, he knew he was a idiot to do so, but he had needed to do this and couldn't have taken her here with him. That would have just been downright torturous. And after last night…he wasn't so sure that she would be so eager to pull off another stunt so soon.

Getting up again he headed back towards where he had left her, before he had heard it, and sensed it. Instantly going on the alert, he quickened his pace and got back in hardly any time at all, just enough time to issue his warning.

"Don't make a sound." He had seen her freeze and grit his teeth against her scream and sudden movement when she turned to face him. "I said don't make a sound."

"You surprised me! What do you expect?" Her voice came out slightly higher than usual. He watched as her eyes grew angry, but he cut her off before she could say any more. As quietly as he could, just so she could hear, he whispered his second warning, hoping that it would make her understand.

"We're being watched." The colour drained from her face, and she nodded dumbly.

"What do we do?" Her whisper was as quiet as his now, and he silently thanked the gods that she was not yelling at him now, seemingly believing what he said.

"I'm not sure how many there are, or if intentions are hostile."

"Is there more than one?"

"I think so." He felt a weird sense of déjà vu about this, and it only served to make him feel more tense.

"So what do we do?" She repeated. He turned away from her, and looked around with darting, hard eyes. Alert for anything and everything.

"We know you're there. Who are you and what do you want?" He raised his voice, letting controlled menace seep into his tone, and leaving his unspoken threat hang in the air. _'come out now and I won't be forced to kill you.'_

He thought he heard something for a moment, before everything went still again.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…nothing happened.

Five seconds, ten seconds…still nothing.

A whole minute passed, and then another.

Five minutes passed, and Katara began to fidget. He himself was also beginning to feel impatient. Perhaps whoever it was had left, perhaps he had imagined it?

No, he couldn't have imagined it.

"Um…Zuko?"

He glanced at her for a moment, before looking around the area again. Slowly, very slowly, he started to relax, although he kept all of his senses alert for even the smallest sign of something, anything at all, that seemed out of place other than themselves.

Eventually, he allowed himself to let go of his wary tension and turned back towards Katara.

He instantly regretted it as he saw her eyes widen and cold biting metal press against the skin on the back of his neck.

"Don't move boy."

OoO

A/N: You must all hate me by now.

I am so sorry that it took so long for me to update, but (finally) I got my mind into gear and here it is. My only excuse is that it was a very hard chapter to write, and I hope you can all forgive me for the wait. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up much sooner than this one was, I'm aiming to have it up in the next two weeks or so at least.

Sorry…

Velori


	11. Fight or Flight

**Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA and I never will – it belongs to Nickleodeon. I'm not nearly creative enough anyway.**

**Yes, Yes, I know. It has once again been ages since I last updated this but I've been tearing my hair out over this for months. Damn writer's block…**

**However, everything's in place and things will start to be picking up soon.**

**Ah…the clichés in this…I couldn't help myself.**

Chapter 10: Fight or Flight or simple Procrastination?

If there is one thing that I would have thought, I would never, I repeat, never see in my life before I met Aang, it is this:

After all, how many times will I honestly be able to say that I seen _Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation _bound, gagged and _drugged. (_Well, technically, I couldn't _see _it now, but I had). I'll give our captors this, they didn't seem to cut any corners, and to say that I wasn't finding this even slightly _strange_ was a lie. And I think that I can definitely say that I have seen my fair share of strangeness over the past few months.

But this was just weird.

I had expected myself to feel at least some sort of grim satisfaction at least from seeing something like this happen to him, but I didn't. How exactly am I _supposed _to react? Somehow, I didn't want to gloat about it, or try to get some sort of revenge by making some underhand comment. I realized that I just couldn't do that – everything aside, it wasn't in me.

I wasn't sure if that was just stupid, or if I was just being a fool.

I couldn't feel anything other than a nasty sensation of butterflies dancing in the pit of my stomach, and I had been constantly fidgeting, biting my lip and worrying over _what in the world was going to happen now?_

Other than that, and everything that had happened already, I was pretty much okay. Unlike Zuko, theyhad only chained my foot to a wall, or what I thought was a wall. It was dark, so I couldn't see anything, but whatever I was chained to felt pretty solid- and also somewhat _prickly_, but that's not the point - so I just assumed it was a wall. I was chained in such a way that I couldn't stand up or move around very well, and from what I could gather, neither could Zuko.

It was uncomfortably small as well, which meant that I was literally squished up against the corner.

And by the spirits, it was _dark._

I had never really been afraid of the dark, but that didn't mean that I liked it. Not being able to see or move was like temporarily losing a limb, which in a way, I suppose it was. It wasn't exactly quiet, there was a steady rumbling _outside…_and it was really beginning to annoy me.

'Wheels?' It sounded like that, or something was moving outside. 

But it was so quiet _inside. _I had to say, or do something, or else I would go insane. I sucked in my breath slowly, and held it.

"What's going to happen?" It came out as a half-croak, and I nearly gasped in surprise; did I really sound like _that?_ I bristled with shame at sounding so weak, but I hadn't had anything to drink for ages and my throat was itching to the point of unbearable, and there was nothing I could do about it. I cringed inwardly, for who had ever heard of a thirsty waterbender?

I heard the slight jangle of chains, but nothing else. It struck me, that this time I was being stupid. I couldn't expect him to answer me if he was gagged, now could I? I knew he probably wouldn't have answered me even if he could, but how I could have forgotten about the gag I have no idea.

"This is your fault." Well it was. I may not want to throw the whole situation in his face (again, the reason _why_ escapes me completely), but it really was his fault. Of course, he wouldn't be able to reply, which was fine by me. Although I could just picture what his response would be. Something along the lines of: _Oh really, and how exactly would that be you dirty little peasant?_ Yeah, why not throw in the insult for good measure? Although, he was just as filthy as I was – which, unfortunately, was another thing that I was _very_ aware and _very _uncomfortable about - so it's not as though he could talk.

"Well, it is." I could almost sense the glare I just knew he was giving me despite the darkness. I continued regardless.

"Well, it's certainly not my fault." I stopped, and hung my head and I could feel my hair as it fell forward past my face. I sighed, not bothering to hide it for what it was.

It _wasn't_ my fault. _I_ wasn't the reason we had gotten captured!

Then why was I feeling guilty?

A few moments passed, but I only managed to make myself feel worse and worse. Eventually I couldn't help it, the words just came out before my brain could understand what they meant.

"I'm sorry." I sensed him stiffen in his corner. I slumped down in my own corner, staring at the space where my hands would be but seeing only darkness. I winced as I felt my voice waver, and I buried my head in my lap. Strange…I had no regrets over apologising. While it was true that our capture hadn't been my fault…

It was also true that I hadn't been able to do anything about it. So it seemed natural for me to say that, somehow.

When I had seen the cold steel glint of the knife against his throat, I had panicked. Then they had all come out of the trees – seemingly materialising out of nowhere. I hadn't sensed them at all, hadn't realised they were there. Zuko had, but they had tricked him into believing that they weren't.

He had tried to fight, giving the man that held him a nasty burn. He had taken the initiative and tried to escape.

But I couldn't have done anything. They easily caught me…

And Zuko had _stopped._

He had stopped because they had me at the point of a sword.

Maybe…

Curse these situations for happening _all _the time. This was just like last time when I was separated from Aang. I hadn't sensed them before it was too late then either. No, that was wrong. Bitterness welled up in my throat. That was just it, wasn't it? I _had_ sensed them. There _had _been clues.

Then why couldn't I have seen these attacks coming? 

Frustration is an ugly thing. That it most certainly is.

A thump reverberated on the wall right behind me, and I jumped, muttering a small yelp of surprise. An angry shout from the outside followed it and I frowned. Had they been able to hear me, whoever _'they' _were I flushed with embarrassment when I realised that I had been startled, and I remembered what I had just been thinking about.

Wryly, I wondered if I should really be thinking these things – they were hardly optimistic. Not to mention that there was the fact that now I had apologised to _Zuko _of all people.

No wait, that was wrong…he had done things…bandaging my arm, letting me use my bending to heal it…for as long as it had lasted anyway. He had even…

I shook my head furiously to rid myself of my wayward thoughts, before resting my chin gloomily on my palm.

Except…I needed to think, for they wouldn't leave me alone.

I drifted off, losing myself to my own thoughts. The darkness helped in this sense, it was easier to think about things if I couldn't see them for some reason, and I found that I didn't have to worry about having them read by anyone, didn't have to worry about my emotions being out in the open so much. I had a lot of explaining to do, mostly to myself, and now I could.

But there was also something jutting out from the wall that was pressing almost painfully against my side. Damnit, I couldn't concentrate!

I felt the beginnings of a headache. Another one. Closing my eyes I rested by head back against the wall.

I hadn't even noticed that I had fallen asleep before I was jerked awake again.

My eyes were getting used to the dark, which was a plus. I could now make out some shapes. However, it was as if they were blurred, unfocused and indefinite.

"Do you…Do you want me to take the gag off?" I asked, kind of tentatively, wondering if I should have even bothered.

He made a noise, which sounded suspiciously like he was scoffing, and I threw the coldest look I could muster at where I guessed he was sitting. Whether he could see it or not didn't matter, that scoff was uncalled for.

"Well, do you want me to or not?" This must sound ridiculous, how would he be able to reply anyway? I shifted out of discomfort for what must have been the eighteenth time in five minutes as I felt that something press into my side, and I tried unsuccessfully to get away from it, then froze and failed to stifle a squeak as something beside my hand _moved._ I couldn't help it, maybe the darkness and the close confinement _was_ getting to me, so no wonder I was more edgy than usual. Still, I couldn't help but feel slightly angry when I heard what could only be described as a noise of exasperation from Zuko.

"Fine, keep it on…" The thing by my hand moved again, and I instinctively pulled away, before it dawned on me "Wait…that had better not be your foot!" Another irritated noise.

"Ow!" That _nudge_ was a little _too_ hard "You kicked me!" Glancing upwards through the dark, I wondered if I should be worried. Here I was, fretting and worrying over Zuko's foot of all things, instead of trying to think of a way out of this mess. Zuko and I were in here, and neither of us had any idea of what was going on out _there_. However, if I listened carefully, I was sure I could hear something. Perhaps if I could catch bits of conversation, or something that might indicate where we were - after all, they already proved that they could hear us, so, who's to say it wouldn't work the other way round?

Suddenly, we both froze as the sound of something rattling came from the outside, then the sound of a heavy door swinging on rusty hinges. Light flooded in the room and I ducked my head, throwing up my arm to shield my face and blinking rapidly as the sudden brightness hurt my eyes. Eventually, the darkness began to melt away, but I was so preoccupied with trying to get used to the light - which was a nastily painful process as spots danced in front of my vision - that I didn't catch what the person responsible for opening the door had said.

"Keep your heads down. We're stopping." It took a moment for the words to make sense, before I realized that the speaker was female. A rush of questions spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them, taking the opportunity before I fully knew what I was doing.

"Who are you?! Where are you taking us? Let us go!" Demands were made as loudly as my parched throat would allow, while I glared at her, needing answers.

"Well aren't you annoying? In time, girl. Sit tight there for a second, and know that you're in no position to be making demands from us. That goes for your fire bender boyfriend as well." The bitterness in her tone shocked me, and my mouth fell open. I quickly closed it again when I realized what she had said, and bristled out of indignation.

"He is _not my boyfriend!_" I yelled out, but the door had already closed. Suddenly, the whole thing jerked, and my head snapped back and hit the wall behind me, causing me to yelp out in pain. Stars danced in front of my eyes, even as I was dimly aware of Zuko stiffening again beside me.

There was a moment of silence, and I reached behind me to rub the back of my head with my hand, blinking away stinging little tears that had managed to leak out of the corners of my eyes. Wincing slightly at the soreness, I caught myself thinking that I was going to have a nasty bump there by tomorrow morning. I was pretty sure that it was sometime during the night now, though it could have just been because it was so dark inside our little…cell. That was probably true actually, since I had lost track of how many hours had passed a while ago.

The door opened again, but this time I was prepared for it. I took a moment to look at the inside of whatever we were in. I was right; it was _tiny. _It came to me that what we were in was probably some kind of cart – although probably more like a box on wheels, or more accurately, a claustrophobic nightmare on wheels. Now I could see, however, the inside looked like bottom of a well, albeit with a closed top instead of an open one. The door was on my left, and my foot was chained to the wall next to it.

Hazarding a glance over at Zuko, I instantly regretted it. His arms were tied tightly behind his back, and it looked painful. I knew he could not fire bend because of the drug – although how that was I was not sure, and I…well, I hoped that he wouldn't do anything too stupid to make it worse for him. I hoped for something that would allow an escape, but there was a nagging feeling that things sure weren't going to improve any time soon…

Rattling caused me to turn my head and see someone unlocking the chains around my foot. My arm was then roughly grabbed, and ignoring my protest, they yanked me up - none too gently - and I was pulled out through the door.

I was then shoved backwards, and fell messily into two others, who immediately grabbed me and held me still. My fingers itched with the urge to bend, but that was out of the question – I was not about to be drugged as well. _'What is it with people feeling like they have the need to grab and push me around? The amount of bruises I have… gods!' _And I don't actually bruise that easily.

I watched; gritting my teeth as I saw them drag Zuko out next, and the way that they were much more ruthless with him than they were with me was not lost on me. I winced as he lashed out, and the men holding him reacted. He was wrestled to the ground and forced to bend over…I turned my head, but not before I mouthed at him to stop. _Don't do anything, not yet. I have an idea._

As long as they didn't know I could bend…

I froze.

My hand itched again, this time with the need to travel up to the base of my neck, to grasp the stone of my mother's necklace. The necklace that had once been gran-gran's. The water tribe engagement necklace - If I wore this in plain sight, would they know I was from the Water Tribe? I was relieved to find that it had slipped underneath my collar, out of sight.

I could see the surprise that registered across his face, but I was too relieved to find that he had stopped struggling, at least for now anyway, to care about that.

We were in a clearing, a large one. I looked around, but the clearing ended where thick trees and undergrowth began. Almost as if a section of the forest had been cut out, and the trees were some kind of wall – that just suddenly started. In the middle there seemed to be some sort of raised platform, which was ringed by poles that were dug into the earth

An old woman was standing there, looking at us with shrewd, calculating eyes. Eyes that were shrunken into her face with so many wrinkles that for some twisted moment, I wondered how anyone that ancient looking could still be alive. I felt like they were looking right through me, and I almost shuddered, but managed to contain it. She raised one crooked eyebrow, before turning a disdainful look on Zuko. I watched him glare right back, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Who are you?" Her voice was nothing like what I expected it to be. She was a small, willowy sort of woman, but also old looking. I thought her voice would be quiet or throaty, but it was sharp and clear, and reminded me ominously of a small knife or dagger, the kind that some people hide in their belts or boots and you don't see them it until it's too late. She directed her question at me, and my brow furrowed.

"Why should I answer?" I grimaced, my voice hadn't gotten any stronger from earlier, and my throat was still too dry to make what I said sound remotely anything like I wanted it to. The woman's eyebrow rose to join the other one until they both disappeared under a grey fringe of hair.

"That was insolent of you, trespasser. You realize of course why you're here don't you?" I blanched. _Trespasser?_

"No. I don't. What do you mean 'trespasser'?" I heard the two holding me suck in sharp breaths, and I held my own, silently wondering if I had said the wrong thing. Zuko was watching me warily, which didn't help matters.

"You. You are not in any position to ask or demand anything." _So I've been told. _"You were caught at the Southern Border. The penalty for trespassing is death. You were trespassing." My eyes widened, and immediately, this woman had my complete and utter attention, and I was no longer aware of anything going on around me.

"Death." I repeated quietly, my brow furrowing dismally as I stared at the woman.

"Yes, Death." Something seemed off with the way she was staring at me. Despite the obvious fact that she was threatening my life, there was something that wasn't quite right about this.

I glanced around again, and was shocked to find that people were gradually gathering in the clearing. There were about twenty of them, staring at me with a variety of different expressions on their faces. Some were interested; others were grim…the rest were downright hostile.

"At dawn." I clenched my fist so tightly that my nails bit into my skin, but I ignored it. She was turning around and walking off the platform, as if that word was the finality.

"What? No trial?" I spat out the word, and she stopped.

"We have all the proof we need"

"Is there nothing I can do?" I would bend my own blood to get out of this if I had to…I might have to. She seemed to have gained a renewed interest, and then sauntered up to me, actually sauntered.

"Something _you _can do? What could you possibly do?"

"I can do a lot of things." What was with my mouth these days? When was I going to learn to shut up in situations like these? I could see Zuko's expression without looking at him. And for once I wouldn't blame him. If we die, this time it'll be my fault entirely.

Suddenly she laughed, and I jerked in surprise. _'Jumpy, eh Katara?' _My heart was pounding in my chest. And breathing was hard, but I managed to keep up my façade of bravery. With a flick of her wrist, she gestured towards the ones holding Zuko, with her contemptuous glance fixed on me. I heard Zuko being dragged out of the clearing, and my heart rate increased, I swear I could feel it wanting to jump out of my throat. She then walked in the opposite direction, and with a second gesture, I was forced to follow.

OoO

I was back in a different forest, almost three and a half months ago. I was looking up at the exact same sight; huts nestled in branches, hidden by the leaves in the trees.

I was back with Aang and Sokka, and the _freedom fighters_.

Or…

I _wish_ I was anyway – which kind of gives some insight as to how bad the situation was.

There was only one guard holding me now, the other one having gone off who knows where. My only real consolidation was that I hadn't been killed on the spot, but what was going to happen now was completely beyond me.

By nature, I have been told before that I am too trusting. It's true; I like to know that I can always trust people. However, these people…I had no idea what they wanted. I had no idea, and the woman, who I had guessed was the leader, hadn't given any clues to speak of so far whatsoever.

I wondered if I would ever understand anything anymore after this. The last few days had been so stupid, so confusing, that I wanted to scream and scream and scream. I wanted to throw a tantrum, and act like a child. Aang's words came rushing back, when I first met him back home: 'but you are a child'

But I couldn't be one, because I wasn't one really, and I had to be strong.

_I had to be strong. _This had become another mantra, to add to the list.

"What is your name?" I bit the inside of my cheek savagely, not wanting to divulge this woman with any information about herself, but knowing that I had do. The complete lack of choice that I had in _anything _in the past week was really starting to get to me.

"Katara."

"How old are you?" I started slightly at the question, before suspicion flooded through me and I felt chills all over, like the brief shock you get when you put ice on a wound. The question seemed innocent enough, so I decided to go ahead. If I had to say something, then maybe there was a chance and I could still try talking my way out of this.

"Fourteen." Nearly fifteen, but I couldn't be bothered to tell her that.

"Oh? And where do you come from Katara? Judging from when you were, ah, _found_, your young friend is obviously a firebender. You, however, do not seem to fit _that _category."

"I am _not_ a firebender!" I was becoming angry even at the thought of that, I was Katara of the Water Tribe!

"Oh? You are not from the Fire Nation?"

"NO!"

"Ah, I see. Then where do you come from? Jiu here mentioned that you wore a necklace similar to the Water Tribe's, but I do not see one on you now." I stiffened, and Jiu, now that I realized that that was his name, smiled at me. It was the kind of smile that made you want to back away slowly, then run for your life while you still had the chance. I flinched when he reached for my neck, and brought out the necklace with his index finger. Disgust caused me to lean backwards, which tripled as his smile turned triumphant.

'_I recognise you. You're the one that had the knife from earlier.' _So, he must have seen my mother's necklace then. How observant of these people.

I wasn't sure what to say now, and could only wait to find out what they wanted.

"Very well, I'll take it then that I was right, and you are from the Water Tribe. But, now I have to ask," I flicked my gaze back from, to the hooded person. "What, would a young woman from the Water Tribe be doing travelling with someone from the Fire Nation? And in such a state no less." I suddenly found my voice, and came up with a story that was neither a lie nor the exact truth.

"I was separated from my group, and so was he. He found me unconscious and we've been travelling together ever since." Part of me scorned my choice of words for obvious reasons, but it also amazed me how that had come out as easily as they had. I was quite proud of myself in a way, actually, not because it was a lie, but merely because my voice had been steady and I hadn't even wavered once. I only hoped now that that would be enough.

"You were travelling with a group?" Or not. _Godsdammit. _

"Yes."

"And I suppose he just, ah, _found _you…?"

"Yes." I stressed, unable to help the note of agitation that crept into my voice. Inwardly I winced as I saw Jiu's eyes become cold, as his look became hard.

"Hmm. All right, Katara. Where were you going before you came to our borders?" _'that is none of your business.' _

"North." I got the strangest sensation that I was being studied. I didn't want to be studied. "What do you want?" My voice wavered slightly this time, but for my part I ignored it. These questions were pointless, designed to make me feel comfortable perhaps? I wasn't buying it.

"Hn. So where were you travelling with the boy after he found you?" She completely ignored my question, and I frowned at the ease that she had brushed me off.

"North." I was balancing on the thin line between calm and panic, and my uneasiness must have shown.

"Your crimes are of a serious nature Katara." I bristled. She made it sound as if we had done something terrible, like murdering children or something! I could feel my hands sweating. How long before I was reduced to the fight or flight instinct?

"I…We didn't know that we were trespassing anywhere, we-"

"That does not matter."

"But surely-" I was cut off again, and I watched as her attention was drawn somewhere above us, though I did not know the cause. I followed her gaze, looking up to see the rounded huts seemingly coming out of the trees, as if the simply structured buildings were a part of them.

"You asked me if you could do anything to help us." It was not a question "There is one way." I held my breath in anticipation, maybe; finally, I was getting there. "You would not be killed, but…"

"What do you want me to do?" I jumped at the chance, if there was anything I could do…

"Heal." Heal? Shock caused me to go numb._ 'How did they know I was a waterbender?!'_

"O…only waterbenders can do that…"

"Spare me. Just listen." There was an edge to her tone, and I shut my mouth, waiting for her to continue. "I know what you are." _How? _I hadn't used my bending in front of these people, at least not that I could remember.

A darker realization hit me. If they knew then why hadn't they drugged me?

"I may have use of your abilities. There is a sickness, which has been affecting some of the men and women whilst on their patrols. If you are willing, and if you can do anything about it, then you may keep your life." She made it sound as if I had a choice. Despite myself, I felt a twinge of sympathy.

"I see that there's no point lying to you, since you seem to know so much about me. I am a waterbender…and I'll do it." '_If I can' _I added silently in my head.

"Are you sure you can? I just want to be positive. That arm of yours…" I couldn't see her face, but I could certainly hear the slightly mocking way she spoke.

"I've been travelling a lot, I haven't had enough time and I couldn't waste water." The half-truth flew easily past my lips, and I was once again surprised at how I had managed to pull that one off.

"I see." She continued on, but I stayed where I was. She turned slowly, a half smile forming on her lips.

"What about…my…uh…friend?"

"The firebender boy?" I nodded cautiously, ignoring the odd feeling in my stomach that I got from calling Zuko 'friend'.

"Yes."

"That's up to you. I've said your life will be spared if you can do what I want, but he is a different matter."

"Please…" Her eyes became sharp, like flints, which glinted in the first light that was rising slowly above the trees and was turning the sky into different shades of pink and orange and blue.

I said it without hesitation, without caring for the consequences. What surprised me the most was, that I didn't even have to think about it.

"Don't kill him. _Please don't._"

No matter what, despite everything…

I found that I couldn't let Zuko die.

OoO

**A/N:**

**Surprisingly, I'm not actually dead…**

**Once again I'm sorry for the wait, but my muse seems to have fled for a while. Things have also been really hectic (I have exams to thank for that – hopefully, I'll have done well, but you never know…).**

**In regards to the time scale – I'm guessing that the gang met Jet and Co. in late autumn, and then the journey to the North Pole and the events there may have accounted for winter. But, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. Meh, it's my story even if they aren't my characters (sigh).**

**This story takes place very soon after the Gang left the North Pole, and they had originally been off to King Bumi's. So, please thing of this as a warped kind of 'what if…' scenario – I hope that clears up some stuff.**

**Also, finding out the (relatively) new stuff from Avatar, my ideas for what I can do for this plot are a little clearer.**

**(This is what Velori gets for not planning out her story properly.)**

**Well, now that the A/N is almost as long as the story (hits head on desk): Thanks again so much to those who have taken their time to actually read this story as well as all the reviews, I do treasure each one.**

**Velori. **


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